We all know in these hard economic times as business owners the last thing you want to spend money on is your IT department.  You’ve cut all the corners you could have, your still surviving and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully.  You used to have ten employees and now you’ve been making do with five.  The Server and network you have is the one you invested in five years ago. Sally complains every day the network is slow, the server has had its share of outages in the past few months, and you know it’s time for a new server, but to spend eight to ten thousand dollars right now is just not in the budget.  You could call us to be you’re your IT Department, but your just not there yet. What do you do? 

Well since you are down to only five employees, we have a simple and affordable solution to get you back on top of the ever so changing technology curve.  A simple “Peer to Peer” network may be the right solution and fit your budget.  Remember that kind of expensive desktop you bought Sally last year, because she’s the loudest in your office when it comes to the computers, Well Sally may be your new Server girl.  With a Peer to Peer network any computer on the network can serve as the desktop and the server at the same time.  In a Peer to Peer network your desktop has network features that allow you to share files and printers alike built in to the software.  Now with us installing a simple SonicWall wireless total secure appliance, your network is back to full speed and much more stable than it was. So instead of spending thousands you’re up and running for about fifteen hundred, when you’re ready to expand again to ten or more employees we can always go back to the server network configuration that you once had because business will be much better and the budget will compensate for it. So don’t stress the small stuff, let us at Kotori Technologies show you how to stay “A Step Ahead”, and stay within your budget.

Here is a tip that will help you to help us when you need some technical support.  There is a new tool in Windows 7 that can capture step by step (with screenshots) what a person is doing. If you are having an issue, or getting an error, when doing a particular thing, this is for you. Simply click the Start button and type PSR into the search field. This will bring up the Problem Steps Recorder. You can then click the Record button and re-create the error. Every screen that opens will be captured. You can also add a comment during the recording. When you are finished, simply click the stop button to stop recording.  This will automatically bring up the save menu. It will be saved in a zip file, which makes for much easier emailing.  Then you can simply attach the file into an email and send it to us and we will be glad to assist you in solving the problem.

Once you hit “record”, it tracks your mouse and keyboard and captures screenshots with any comments you choose to associate alongside them. Once you stop recording, it saves the whole thing to a ZIP file, containing an HTML-based “slide show” of the steps.

This past week, a client asked Neadom about a QR Code Scanner app for a Blackberry.  This is something new and something Neadom and no one at Kotori has used, therefore, it makes for some research for a new article. You may be like me and asking what is a QR code and why would anyone need a scanner.  Well, I did the research for you. 

QR Codes are a step above to the traditional barcode. The typical barcode could hold a maximum of 20 digits and could only be read horizontally. The QR code can hold up to 7,089 characters and can span horizontally and vertically and can be scanned from any angle. The term QR is an acronym for Quick Response. QR Codes originated in Japan and have recently become popular in the Middle East and Europe and now the US.  They first hit mainstream when they were initially used for tracking parts by vehicle manufacturers. Now they are being used commercially in the telecommunications industry where the mobile phones are driving up their popularity.

Now that you know what a QR Code is, how does it benefit you and why would you want a scanner? (That was my question.) You can take a use your mobile phone and take a picture of the QR Code. The QR Code software decoder can then transform the data from the code to a meaningful action like: connect to a web address, download an MP3 file, dial a telephone number, and prompt your email client with a sender address. Of course, this is all done in a matter of milliseconds making the transformation of your mobile phones browser to the mobile web instantaneous. The picture above is a QR code for Kotori Technologies website.

Now that you know what they are and how to use them, where and what to get? This, in part, depends on what type of phone you have.  And like I said, we haven’t used any of the software, so we can’t really pick one over the other without the experience. Some that seem to be more popular are:

For Blackberry
BeeTagg http://www.beetagg.com/
Neo Reader http://www.neoreader.com/
Up Code http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-software/#upcode

For iPhone
NeoReader http://download.cnet.com/NeoReader/3000-2124_4-201792.html
Optiscan http://download.cnet.com/Optiscan/3000-20418_4-10977515.html
QR App http://download.cnet.com/QR-app/3000-20418_4-10977516.html

If you have any experience with the QR Code or have a recommendation, please let us know.

A few weeks ago, I gave you some Task Bar Tips (see http://kotoritechnologies.com/blog/post/2010/05/04/Task-Bar-Tips.aspx). In that article, we discussed how to “pin” icons to the taskbar in Windows 7.  This week, I learned a new trick to go along with that, how to open these applications without your mouse.  Let’s say you have the following applications pinned in this order: Libraries (Documents), Outlook, QuickBooks, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Word. To open Internet Explorer, just press the “Windows” orb key on your keyboard along with the number that corresponds with the icon you want to open, in this case 4. Look for more Windows 7 tips to come. If you are interested in upgrading to Windows 7, contact Kotori Technologies today and we will be glad to assist you.  

If you have not heard, Google “Accidently” gathers WiFi data on your home and business when it was running the Google Maps vehicles.  GMailers beware!!!  Don’t get me wrong I think that Google is GREAT.  I just find it hard to believe it was a mistake.  You just don’t start recording WiFi data.  Read more here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/196630/google_has_been_snooping_on_your_wireless_network.html