Prep Time: 20 min.
Refrigeration Time: 4 hours
Decoration Time: 10 min.
Difficulty: Easy
Yield: Makes 16 servings

What you need

For crust: 
    ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs 
    3 tablespoons melted butter 
    2 tablespoons granulated sugar
For filling: 
    1 package unflavored gelatin 
    2 tablespoons water 
    3 packages (8 oz. each) reduced fat cream cheese, softened 
    ½ cup sugar 
    1 container (8 oz.) reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed 
    1 ½ cups chopped 3 MUSKETEERS® Brand Mint Minis 
 
    9-inch spring form pan 
    Wax paper
Make it:

Prepare crust: 
    1. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Press mixture into bottom of wax paper-lined spring form pan. Set aside. 
Prepare filling: 
    1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl; let stand for 2 minutes. Melt gelatin mixture in microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. Set aside to cool. 
    2. Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Fold in whipped topping and 3 MUSKETEERS® Brand Mint Minis into cream cheese mixture. Fold in the cooled gelatin mixture until well blended. 
    3. Spoon mixture evenly over crust in pan. Refrigerate until set (4 hours). 
    4. Unmold cake by running a thin knife around the outer edge and open the spring form pan. Cut cake into slices using a knife dipped in hot water.

As an IT company we have been asked lately if we can help provide Green IT solutions.  One of the non-Green things about IT is laptop batteries.  However, recent advancement in technologies has allowed for Green Batteries.  When we say Green we actually mean green…green algae.  Recently on Engadget, Darren Murph wrote about these advancements.
By Darren Murph  posted Nov 29th 2009 2:07AM
Somehow or another, we've figured out how to send mere mortals to the moon, create (and mass produce) a laptop thin enough to floss with and add multitouch capabilities to a mouse. But for whatever reason, we're still stuck using AA batteries that last approximately one-fifth as long as you need them to. Outside of a few breakthroughs here and there, the battery industry at large has found a holding pattern that digs at consumers and likely fattens the wallets of those in charge. Thanks to new research surrounding the use of Cladophora (green algae) in a flexible, ultrathin alternative, it looks as if we may finally be onto something good. Researchers purport that these super skinny cells could be placed in areas where batteries are currently unable to go -- think of perpetually charged wall sensors, energized clothing or even light-up wrapping paper. Better still, prototypes have shown the ability to hold a significant charge, but unfortunately for us all, no specific production date has been pegged. A boy can dream though, yeah?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/29/ultrathin-algae-based-batteries-could-charge-things-you-never-t/

These days, you hear a lot about data security and maybe don’t think there is much you can do as an everyday user. But, there are a few very important things that can be done on the workstations to help your computer network consultant. Here are a couple of quick tips to safeguard your desktop from hackers, or even the nosy coworker.

Passwords
Passwords are most often the first line of protection for companies. But a weak password means weak protection. Hackers will try different attacks that either try to guess the password, or will try a series of successive characters with the hopes of finding the right combination that will equal the password. An example of a weak password is any single word or compound word written in plain English such as “airplane” or your child’s name or pet’s name. Those are easy to guess and easy to randomize. A strong password contains the following characteristics:
* It is at least 6 characters long
* It does not contain any part of the user’s ID
* It contains at least 3 of the 5 properties listed below:
      1. Lowercase letters
      2. Uppercase letters
      3. Numbers
      4. Special characters such as !, $, #, etc.
      5. Unicode characters
Some people say, “I’ll never remember a password like that.” That’s why security-savvy users rely on acronyms. Here’s an example.
Start with a phrase
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Change that to its initials
IBTLALLC
Change some of the letters to symbols that look like letters, then mix upper case and lower case
1B2l@LlC
Now that is a strong password. You have 8 characters, lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and a special character (the “at” sign). That will be hard to guess, nearly impossible for a dictionary attack, and to help you remember, your acronym is “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”
Business owners can enforce this policy by enabling a group policy object across the domain. That means that you need to have a server and the policy gets set on the server. At that point, everyone that logs on to the domain will be required to have a password that fits the requirements.

Locking the Workstation
This is a simple security measure, but an effective one, and one that is often overlooked. When the workstation (or laptop) is locked, it means that the screen saver comes up and the user will need to hit Ctrl+Alt+Del to get back to the desktop. There are three important points to enforce regarding this practice.
Each time you leave your workstation for more than a minute, lock the workstation. This includes taking breaks, walking upstairs, going to lunch, etc. To lock the workstation, press the Windows key on your keyboard and the “L” key simultaneously.
Make sure a password is required to unlock the screen saver, otherwise someone can come behind you, hit Ctrl+Alt+Del and get access to your computer.
Make sure that the setting is configured to automatically go to screen saver after 10 minutes of inactivity. That way if you walk away from your desk and forget to lock the workstation, it will automatically be done for you.
After reading the last item, some users will be tempted to think, “Well I will just set it to automatically lock after 10 minutes, then I won’t have to worry about remembering to do it myself.” However, that is an unsafe practice to get into. If you know that you are getting up to go to lunch or go into a meeting, don’t leave your computer unprotected for 10 minutes until it locks automatically. Go ahead and lock the workstation before you get up.
This can also be put into a domain policy on the server.

If you are unsure about how to set the domain policies, please contact Kotori Technologies, we can help you secure your workstations.

In today’s unsure economy, budgets are tight, forcing business owners to do more with less
Preventive maintenance such as regularly installing Microsoft Windows updates, routinely running the disk cleanup utility found in Windows and keeping anti-spyware software up to date will keep computers running at their highest efficiency level. But we suggest not running computers until they die, as it can be more cost-effective to invest in new hardware systems than aging ones.
Most modern technologies, such as computers, have life spans of about three to four years. In evaluating whether to invest in a new system, business owners should ask themselves a couple of key questions: Has more than 80 percent of the hard drive capacity been used? Does the computer need to be rebooted periodically throughout the day? If the answers are “yes,” it may be time for new hardware.
If mobility is not a requirement, desktop computers are less expensive. If purchasing laptops is essential, business owners should buy three-year extended warranties, as accidents happen more frequently with mobile technology.
Regarding computer software, business owners may not need to update their applications every time a new version hits the shelves. However, software should be no more than two versions behind the current one.
At minimum, business owners should consider investing in the following software:
• Antivirus software
• Microsoft Office Suite, or a word processing and a spreadsheet program
• E-mail contact and calendar program (i.e. Microsoft Outlook or legal specific applications such as Time Matters)
• Adobe Acrobat for PDF capabilities
• Accounting software (i.e. Quickbooks Pro)
• Time and billing software
Accounting, time and billing software packages–often called “back office” software—are particularly important in this economy because they allow business owners to budget expenses and income for the year ahead. Such tools can help business owners pinpoint which areas of their practice are most profitable and, conversely, the least. Even business owners who practice with a flat fee structure should track the time they spend in order to find their optimal hourly rates and understand where they stand financially.

For many people December is the most favorable month of all.  It is the month of celebration and a time to enjoy family, friends, giving gifts, and bringing in a new year.  For the small business owner, December can also be a painful time of the year.  Money, money, money...too much going out and not enough coming in.  Businesses in the Low Country have tightened down on their spending, cut cost, cut payroll, screen invoices, and have cut out marketing or have found new creative ideas to market with little to no cost. Many businesses have completely cut out their IT spending.
Let’s look at the Computer and Network spending. Information Technology is not to be a burden, but to make your job and the jobs of your employees easier. The idea is to use technology as an advantage that allows your company to accomplish more and produce it more effectively.
Think about it, if one computer fails, how much will it really cost you? An invoice from your IT company? Typically that is not half of the issue.  The employee spends 30 minutes trying to figure out what happened to the PC. Then she asks her coworker who spends another 30 minutes trying to help.  Then they call in the office manager or someone else that know more about computers and networks.  This takes up even more time. Finally, they get approval (another 30 minutes) to call their IT company. They accept the call, however all of their technicians are on-site or with other clients, so there is a 45 minute delay before they can respond, due to escalation procedures. The technician finishes his appointment and tries to access the computer remotely (30 minutes), and he is denied. He then leaves to travel to your office. (30 minutes) He arrives on site, investigates the situation and tries to boot up the computer several ways. (30 minutes) He narrows the problem to the hard drive. He then has to drive back to the computer company’s warehouse to pick up a new hard drive. (Another 30 minutes) He brings the crashed computer with him to install the hard drive at their office. He then spends 3 hours installing Windows on the new hard drive. By now, it is after 5:00, so he goes home for the night and the next morning, he drives back to your office (30 minutes) and spends another 3 hours installing the programs and personal settings onto the new hard drive. Assuming everything went without a problem, this is at least 10 ½ hours. What was your employee doing during that time? (You paid her for the full day and a half) What did she not accomplish that could have been billed to your clients?
Be glad this was just one computer, if it had been your server, it would have affected your entire staff and your business was probably closed for at least two days. (Hard drives on servers take MUCH longer to replace.)
This scenario could have been avoided, along with many others. This was what we refer to as a “break-fix” example. This client also pays their IT company by the hour to fix their computers when they break. However, we offer an “all you can eat” preventative program. If the client had been on this program, we would have monitored the hard drives of all the computers, and realized three weeks ago that this hard drive was going to crash, and would have had it replaced with an hour’s work. (We could have copied all the programs from the old hard drive before it crashed.) This client also pays us a flat monthly fee to monitor and fix their computers, so their bill for the month would be less than the previous clients.
This “all you can eat” program also allows us to replace and update your computers and servers as needed to prevent crashes and maximize uptime and profitability.
If you want a way to reduce your IT costs, give us a call and let us know you want the “All You Can Eat”.