Smartalyx Computer Musings

Why does Microsoft do this to me? And yes I mean me and me only. Clearly they have nothing better to do up in Redmond than think of ways to mess with Smartalyx.

A client’s computer had a hardware failure, so we moved to a new computer. Simple enough- transfer files and bam up and running. Except for Outlook. I understand that MS needs to move on with their software and can’t be held back by old technologies, but Outlook is basically an EMAIL program used by most consumers. In an office environment it can be so much more, but for the large majority Exchange server does not exist- so all the links built in with calendar and tasks are a little overkill. And you have a harder time avoiding Outlook if you install one of the office suites.

Back to the problem- PST files. I hate them. Why must it be so complicated to store emails, Microsoft? I can move my Thunderbird EMAIL among many computers and operating systems. So this is my call for everyone to give up programs that lock you into a specific format. Look at all the flavors of online EMAIL out there- GMAIL, Yahoo and Zoho are three right off the top. Zoho and Google both have offline modes. You can also have your local tech person setup a GMAIL account to check your other email accounts (POP3 required, your tech guy will know what that is) so all your mail comes into one account. GMAIL allows you to reply through GMAIL using the original EMAIL address (verification emails are used to confirm you are the owner of the accounts)

Using online EMAIL frees up the end user a couple of ways- first your EMAIL is ’safe’ from computer crashes since the data is not only stored locally. And second- the online providers take care of software upgrades and you never need to worry about version compatibility. Yes, there is the chance an online EMail provider can disappear but stick with the larger companies and that is less likely.

So take a look at the online options- or better yet, give Smartalyx a ring and we can help you out.

what have been your experiences with online EMAIL? Let me know.

This is a technorati claim.
Technorati Profile

For those of us that are technically minded we are probably all over the social networks. The networks I am talking about are sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn. These sites are around to make money. LinkedIn charges a yearly fee but the other two do not. So what are they to do?

Well a report in United Kingdom based Telegraph mentions that Facebook is looking to try and monetize the data it has on its users. In response, Facebook commented to Techcrunch that the report was “based on misinterpreted statements from Randi Zuckerberg.”. However, Facebook did say they are looking for ways to “leverage” the data.

Why am I mentioning it? As users we all need to be aware of where our personal data is and how it is being used. I do not have a problem with companies like Facebook using the data they have, but I hope they make that usage very clear to their users. More importantly, I hope that Facebook also installs some protections to prevent applications built on Facebook from hijacking more data than is needed.

Another concern: just because I choose to share my information, how do I know how my ‘friends’ want their data shared? The ‘friend’ network is both the strength and danger of social media sites. Facebook does a great job making their privacy settings easily accessible. If you use Facebook, you should take a look at the settings under your profile to make sure you are using the site within your comfort zone.

I am sure this story will continue and more details will be discovered, but for now make sure you control and share only the information you are comfortable with when asked by any site.