Wednesday, May 30, 2007
FREE Google Docs & Spreadsheets ‘Challenge’ MS Office?
Simple. It is lightweight alternatives to Microsoft Office Word and Excel. Only that Google offer online free word processor and spreadsheet, and they allow collaboration...
Well, being able to jointly create and edit documents with others in your team - whether they're in your local office or remote location, is a huge benefit of the Google Docs solutions. It's worth a look if you're in this type of environment.
Another Google exciting feature is that it allows you to create documents and spreadsheets without the need to save to your local hard drive. But if you like you do have the option to save a copy to your hard drive.
Since Google Docs & Spreadsheets saves to a secure, online storage facility, you can access your documents and spreadsheets from any computer, anytime and, in the event of a local hard drive crash, you won't lose your saved content online.
Both of the Google docs and spreadsheets are still consider ‘basic’ at this point, but they're worth a bit of time to explore. Let see…
What You Can Do with Google Docs & Spreadsheets?
Here's what you can do with Google Docs:
● Upload MS Word documents, OpenOffice, rtf, or html.
● Use online editor to format documents, spell-check, etc.
● Invite others (by e-mail address) to edit or view your documents.
● Edit documents online with whomever you choose.
● View your documents' revision history and roll back to any version.
● Publish documents and spreadsheets online to the world or to just who you choose.
● Post documents to your blog.
● Download documents to your PC as MS Word, OpenOffice, rtf, pdf, html or zip.
The Google Spreadsheets also allow you to do the following:
● Import and export of .xls, .csv, and .ods formatted data (and export functionality for .pdf and .html).
● Enjoy intuitive navigation and editing, like any traditional document or spreadsheet.
● Use formatting and formula editing in spreadsheets so you can calculate results and make your data look the way you want it.
● Chat in real time with others who are editing your spreadsheet.
● Invite others (by e-mail address) to edit or view your spreadsheets.
At the moment, you need to pay attention on the size of your document/spreadsheet?
● Each document can be up to 500K, and up to 2MB per embedded image.
● Each user has a limit of 1000 documents and 1000 images.
● Each spreadsheet can be up to 10,000 rows, or up to 256 columns, or up to 50,000 cells, or up to 20 sheets -- whichever limit is reached first.
● Each user has a limit of 100 spreadsheets.
● You can import spreadsheets up to approximately 1 Mb in .xls or .odf format.
Since it’s online, then which browsers are supported?
Google Docs & Spreadsheets will work wherever you have access to the Internet via a Windows or Macintosh computer with one of these browsers:
1. Internet Explorer 6.0+ (Windows)
2. Firefox 1.07, 1.5.0.6+ (Mac & Windows -- except for 1.0.8 on Windows and Mac, and 1.5b1 on Mac)
3. Mozilla 1.7.12+
4. Netscape 7.2, 8.0
Google Docs & Spreadsheets is not supported, and probably won't run on other browsers.
Note: Regardless of your browser type, you must enable cookies and JavaScript.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
The 90/10 Principle For Improving Your Life
It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations).
What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react.
What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic.
We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.
How? Is by your reaction.
You cannot control a red light. but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.
Let's use an example.
You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react.
You curse.
You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus.
Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit.
After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home.
When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning.
Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?
The answer is “D".
You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day.
Here is what could have and should have happened.
Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.
Notice the difference?
Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.
Why?
Because of how you REACTED.
You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.
Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle. If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you!
React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.
How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them?
WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive?
Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.
You are told you lost your job.
Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.
The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take outpour frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on.
Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.
Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle.
The result?
Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle.
It CAN change your life!!!
Friday, November 24, 2006
How To Do Data Recovery, Data Security, Data Backup The Right Way
What exactly are your data recovery options once your hard drive crashes? First of all, stop using the computer immediately. It is not suggested that you run any data recovery software that came with your computer as this software can overwrite the original files. The next step is to allow a hard disk recovery company to restore your pertinent files. Contact a reputable company immediately. There are a few companies who come right to your home, but at-home data recovery computer services charge more. Certain computer files, such as DWG files (a complex graphics file format), require a specialist in order to be recovered. If there is damage to the hard drive you may not be able to recover your files. A hard drive crashing is an instance where data recovery is possible. If your data security is breached you may never recover what is stolen.
The best way to avoid compromised data security is to put safeguards in place. A few data security measures are encryption, antivirus and firewall protection. Data security such as encryption translates data into a secret code. To read an encrypted file you must have access to the key or password that enables you to decrypt it. There are many software programs and services that provide data encryption services depending on your data security needs. Additional data security measures such as antivirus and firewall protection provide further data protection. Some software programs have the ability to provide both antivirus and firewall protection for overall data security.
One way to avoid the mess of data recovery is to perform regular backups. Basic computer maintenance includes full and incremental backups. It is recommended that you perform a full backup once a week. An incremental backup is a backup that backs up only the files modified since the last backup and depending on your needs you can schedule this to run every day. It’s also beneficial if you have a copy of your data offsite. When you need to access this data you can either open the offsite data program and run it, or log on via the web to access your data. You will want to check with your service provider how to perform data recovery if needed.
Data recovery either from a crashed hard drive or lost through compromised data security can be a frustrating and devastating experience. The best situation is to avoid the loss of data all together. With regular computer backups and data security measures in place your computer data will remain where it needs to be, on your hard drive and easily accessible.
Some people balk at the cost of protecting their data, as well as the time involved in doing secure backups. But what they fail to consider is the cost of their lost personal and productivity time that is spent trying to recover data that could be recovered in literally MINUTES if they had properly safe-guarded the data in the first place! If your computer data files are the lifeblood of your business and/or personal life, the time and money involved in protecting that data adequately and properly cannot be determined by a dollar value.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Choosing and Registering a Domain Name
Domain Extensions: There are numerous domain extensions available although there are some rules as to what extension you can use. For business or other such commercial websites it is the .com suffix that most people are familiar with and what you should always register first. If your business attracts mainly a local clientele base you should also consider country specific domain extensions such as .co.uk
To protect your domain name and prevent others using it, you should consider registering it under a number of the most common extensions such as .com, .net and .co.uk. When you come to going live with your website, it is then a simple process to point all of your registered domain names to the one web site.
Your Domain Name: Carefully choose a domain name that identifies well with your business name or activity and one that your customers will be able to recall easily. Keep it short and to the point and try to avoid abbreviations. Where possible avoid hyphenated domain names, it is very easy for people to forget or miss out the hyphen and end up on your competitor’s web site. If you do register a hyphenated domain name, try to register the corresponding unhyphenated name and redirect it to your primary domain. Domain names are a limited commodity and are issued on a first come, first served basis. When deciding on a suitable domain name, be prepared for some disappointment as the majority of the ‘best’ domains are already taken. Once you find your ideal domain name, register it as quickly as possible before someone else does.
Registering Your Domain Name: It is recommended that you register your domain name through a suitable registration agent. These agents can greatly simplify the process of domain name registration and are normally able to offer you a number of additional services such as web site design and hosting packages. Ensure that your registration agent registers the domain name in your name. This means that you are then the legal registrant or owner of this domain. In some instances, registration agents have been known to register themselves as the registrant and only assign you certain rights to use the domain name. A number of issues can arise in these circumstances for example if at some time in the future you decide to change registration agents. You may then find out that you cannot change agents because you are not the actual domain name owner.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Mumbai Bombings Shake Outsourcing Community
The big fear of offshore outsourcing customers has become a reality: a major bombing attack in an outsourcing hub.On July 11, at least 200 commuters were killed by terrorist bombings in Mumbai, India, a key outsourcing locale.
In the wake of the attacks, outsourcing providers in Mumbai scrambled to make sure employees and customer data were safe and secure. Meanwhile, outsourcing customers sought reassurances that their Indian partners could handle future unforeseen events.
The terrorist attack in Mumbai—and conflict between Israel and Lebanon for that matter—raise a series of questions for companies sourcing technology globally.
Do you know the disaster recovery plans of your offshore services provider? Are their plans integrated with yours? And how prepared are these providers?
Louis Rosenthal, managing director of group shared services for IT for ABN AMRO Bank in Chicago, said he has inspected the readiness of his outsourcing providers, which include Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Patni Computer Systems.
"We were very explicit about the construction, operation, location, and resilience of the offshore development centers that our vendors developed for us. These facilities are in Mumbai, as well as a number of other cities," said Rosenthal, whose operations weren't impacted.
An eWEEK.com Report: Outsourcing in India
India is no stranger to political violence or natural disasters. Unrest with Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir province has endured for decades and the annual monsoon season puts big cities like Mumbai at risk.
In July, 2005, Mumbai saw 40 inches of rainfall in a single day. Last year, many TCS employees had to remain in their offices or in nearby hotels overnight, waiting out the rains.
Last week the situation was different, as TCS workers took bus services and company-provided transportation home the night of the attacks.
Here's an early survey of how the leading players in India handled the Mumbai attack.
# For Tata Consultancy Services, with 16,000 employees at 16 locations in Mumbai, including its headquarters, the margin between safety and disaster was narrow one.
Because Tata workers routinely stay at work until after 6:30 p.m., the hour of last week's attacks, TCS' several thousand employees who take Mumbai's commuter trains escaped the explosions—no TCS employees were killed or injured in the blasts.
PointerNew study reveals that the outsourcing boom may be over. Click here to read more.
Nonetheless, the TCS crisis management center in Chennai–on the other side of the Indian subcontinent–was activated.
With cellular networks jammed, Tata managers, augmented by human resources and security staff, contacted workers via the company's internal VOIP (voice over IP) service, e-mail and SMS, telling them to stay put and for those who were on the night shift to stay at home, said R. Vaidhyanathan, the TCS Corporate Crisis Management Leader in Chennai.
TCS backs up critical data at its Mumbai offices and in Chennai, and can operate there and in Bangalore.
# Patni Computer Systems, which has major operations in Mumbai, was touched by the attacks. "One employee's father was killed and another employee's wife was on another car on one of the trains and was really spooked," said Russell Boekenkroeger, executive vice president of Patni in Cambridge, Mass.
# Wipro Technologies, which has major business process outsourcing operations and several thousand employees in Mumbai, invoked its business continuity plans for the city, which call for processing to be transferred to facilities in other cities, according to a Wipro spokesperson.
# IBM, which has touted its billion-dollar investments and some 40,000 employees in India, said through a spokesman that it did not suffer any casualties from the attacks and intends to continue with its aggressive investment schedule.
The company has 2,300 employees at its Daksh business process outsourcing unit in Mumbai
