November 2009
In this issue

> Upcoming Expiration
> Ways to Work Quicker
> Go Virtual
> Your Memory in a Flash
> Just for Laughs
 


Your Memory
in a Flash

by Mike Hogan
Used with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Portables: Everybody wants one. But with portables come issues--issues of weight, inadequate runtimes and the trauma that data can experience when the floor breaks a portable's fall. As if those problems weren't enough, new notebooks will be packing extra weight around the middle: Vista and Microsoft Office Suite 2007.

Some claim that a dose of Flash memory is all a portable needs to become a highly functioning member of computing society. Specifically, the latest generation of drives from Samsung and Seagate put 128MB or 256MB of Flash cache in front of your portable's platters so they don't have to spin up as often to feed the processor. In fact, Samsung's MH80 drive remains idle 99 percent of the time, says Andy Higginbotham, director of hard disk drive marketing at Samsung.

This greatly reduces wear and tear as well as the drive's vulnerability to sudden stops. MH80's idle platters draw 70 percent to 90 percent less power than a traditional drive and generate less heat, he adds, letting your notebook get by with a smaller, cooler-running power plant.

Hybrid hard drives, or HHDs, also help with Microsoft's new Windows version, which can be quite a load--especially when running its new Aero interface.

Read more

 

 

Please forward this newsletter to anyone else in your organization who might be interested!

Upcoming Expiration of the 2009 ARRA and Section 179

The Economic Stimulus Act and Section 179 " The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" has been officially extended. The Section 179 Deduction increases made available in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 through December 31, 2009, if you have purchased and installed the equipment.

With the current news that is all around us it is sometimes hard to justify opening our pocketbooks and investing in our companies. We all know that the best way to improve ourselves and our businesses is to invest time, energy and money in accomplishing our goals. As the year draws to a close you need to take a look and see what can be done to improve your business. The decision to improve may save you money.

With the changes to the Section 179 Deduction made by the Economic Stimulus Act signed in February 2008 there are some exciting benefits for business.

Read more


22 Ways To Work Quicker on your Computer
Used with permission from the HP Small & Medium Business Center

Work, family, friends and a few hours for yourself? Sometimes it seems impossible to fit everything in one day. If you are looking to spend less time at your computer and more time somewhere else, check out these clever keyboard shortcuts.

Windows of opportunity
If you often work with several windows open simultaneously, you'll save valuable minutes using these quick key options.

1. To minimize a window to your toolbar, press ALT, SPACEBAR and N.
2. To maximize a window to your full screen, hit ALT, SPACEBAR and X.
3. To reduce the size of a window without hiding it, press ALT, SPACEBAR and R.
4. To close a window, hit ALT and F4.
5. To go to the last window you had open, simultaneously click ALT and TAB.
6. To select one window when you have several open, hold down ALT, and maneuver by clicking TAB to the window you want.

To speed up Excel
You can easily accelerate your spreadsheet skills with these handy tricks.


Go Virtual? 9 Questions To Ask
by Christopher Elliott
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Randi Smith-Todorowski's business was in the wrong place at the right time.

Atlas Martial Arts, the business she co-founded in Scottsdale, Ariz., was thriving. But the local economy wasn't. "The enthusiasm was there," she says. "But people were cutting back on luxury items, taking second jobs and traveling for work."

So with the end of their five-year lease imminent, Smith-Todorowski and her partner did what an increasing number of businesses are doing: they took their business virtual.

Into the cloud
It's hard to say precisely how many businesses are giving up bricks-and-mortar storefronts for Web sites, or moving "into the cloud" in tech parlance. Counting them is inherently difficult, says Daniel Meyerov, the chief executive of Los Angeles-based OnlyBusiness.com.

But there's anecdotal evidence from Meyerov and other experts that more businesses are taking a path into the cloud.

Read more


Just for Laughs


 

Quote of the Month

Autumn is a second spring
when every leaf is a flower.

- Albert Camus


Databranch, Inc.
132 North Union Street, Suite 108    |     Olean, New York 14760
(716) 373-4467 - Olean    |    (607) 733-8550 - Corning/Elmira
http://www.databranch.com/


Databranch does not knowingly participate in SPAM.   If you wish to be removed from this list, please follow the link below and you will be taken off this list.  Thank you for your interest in our e-newsletter.