CIAOPS email lists

The facts are that most people still prefer email to other forms of information delivery, be they Twitter, Facebook, blogs and so on. In recognition of that fact I’ve create two mailing lists that people can use to keep up to date with what’s on offer from the CIAOPS.

 

1. CIAOPS Webinars

 

Subscribing to this list will keep you up to date on when we run our regular webinars. Emails will be sent prior to each webinar so you have plenty of time to indicate your interest. You can also visit the archive of these webinar announcements at any stage also. If you haven’t seen any of our webinars head over to the CIAOPS You Tube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/directorciaops) for some examples.

 

2. CIAOPS Newsletter

 

We announced this a while back but it seems appropriate to once again provide people with the details of how to obtain our regular newsletter. The newsletter is aiming to come out each month with technology information and productivity tips aimed at helping you get things done. You can also view the archive of these emails as well at any time.

 

Information about the webinars and the newsletter will still be published here, so if you are a regular reader of the blog then there is probably no need to sign up for either. However, if you know of anyone else who may benefit from what we offer via these emails lists then I’d ask you to send the link and get them to sign up.

New version of Evernote available

One of the best applications I have found is Evernote. Basically you can think of it as an electronic notebook. In many ways it is similar one of my other favourite applications (OneNote) but has a number of differences that still make it something I use regularly.

One of the main areas that I thought Evernote lagged OneNote was the in the way that it presented information. I like OneNote’s ability to easily create and organize information via sections and tabs. The new version of Evernote is certainly a step closer to being as easy to visualize as OneNote, although it still has a ways to go.

Probably the biggest plus Evernote has for me is the ability to access and add to your information via a browser. You can of course use an application that you load onto just about any platform, but it is this ability to access Evernote information via a web page that put it above OneNote in functionality I believe. I always found it handy if I was ever on a customer’s machine to take a screen shot of the error. With Evernote I could save that information directly via a browser and have it sync’ed with my desktop machine upon my return.

There is still a place for OneNote and Evernote in my took kit but the latest Evernote version 3.5 is certainly getting closer to including all the bits I like in OneNote. Even better, Evernote is free to use and you can’t beat that for value.

Work/life balance

image

For those who are interested in an experiment on lifestyle design and the work/family balance then I would suggest you have a look at the TV show “The Nest” which is shown on SBS Australia currently on Friday nights from 8.30pm.

 

As with all TV shows these days there is also a web site you can visit:

 

http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/thenest/episodes/page/i/1/h/Episodes/

 

that allows you to watch past episodes (although you only seem to be able to watch the very last one).

 

If you are interested in productivity then it is not only worth watching but also reading some of the comments that are made about the episodes by web site visitors.

SharePoint Guide on special

If you are interested in purchasing my Windows SharePoint Operations Guide (www.wssops.com) I notice that SMB Books has a discount running:

 

Super Amazing Sale Through January 31st:
Party Like It’s $19.99 Off !

A Bunch of Great Offers from SMB Books
– Our Newest Books
– Our Greatest Books
– All Rolled Into One Sale!

Just enter the code
PARTY1999 and you will receive $19.99 off EACH ITEM you order.

(All Deals Expire January 31st, 2010.  Place as many orders as you wish. Books make great Valentine’s Day gifts!)

 

You’ll find my SharePoint Guide at:

 

http://www.smbbooks.com/products/procra01.htm

 

and if you enter the code PARTY1999 when you purchase you’ll get $19.99 off. So if you have been thinking about it you have until January 31 to take advantage of this offer.

SharePoint Guide DVD

Part of the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide is a DVD that not only contains my own documentation but also other SharePoint documents. It also contains a number of SharePoint videos, installation files to allow you to get SharePoint up and running quickly without all the downloading as well as links to many other SharePoint resources.

 

You can now download a document that shows exactly what the DVD includes. Because the DVD is part of the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide subscription it also gets updated as new content becomes available but at least the download will give you some idea of what the DVD contains.

 

Don’t forget that you don’t have to purchase the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide to benefit. Referral incentives are also now available. You can download this brochure and send it to people who maybe interested.

 

For more information about the Windows SharePoint Operations Guide please don’t hesitate to contact me via director@ciaops.com.

CIAOPS SharePoint webinar

We are gearing up for the next webinar. Here are the details:

 

CIAOPS webinar 100204 – SharePoint and Office

 

This webinar will show you how to get the best of out of your Microsoft Office applications when used in conjunction with SharePoint. You learn how to utilize check in and checkout with Word, how to embed an updating Excel graph into SharePoint, how to link SharePoint calendars to Outlook, how to create a synchronized notebook using OneNote and much more.

Details

Date: Thursday 4th February 2010
Time: 10:00am
Duration: 60 minutes
Cost: $10 ex GST
Level: 2 (Intermediate)
Prerequisites: None

Registration: To register send an email to director@ciaops.com.

 

The webinar will also be available as a recording after the event of you are unable to attend on the day.

 

Don’t forget our previous webinars that are also available on request:

 

– 091112 Introduction to SharePoint

– 091126 Basics of using SharePoint

– 091210 Basic SharePoint administration

– 100107 SharePoint Questions and Answers 1

A change of browser


A while ago I swapped form using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to Firefox. The main reason was the number of handy add ons that Firefox has available. One of these is NoScript which blocks  Javascript and Flash but can be easily configured to allow pre-determined safe sites. Most browser threats these days come via scripts, so the more protection the better.

For the past week I decided that I would use Google Chrome as my default browser and I must say that I’m impressed. It is fast, stable and supports many (not all) of the little add ons that I use. I use a site on a daily basis that is very heavily Java based and I gotta say that here it really flys, even compared to Firefox. So I’m now using Chrome everyday without hesitation.

Interestingly, I came across this news report “Calls to ditch Internet Explorer after China hacks” that details how the recent major cyber attacks against Google were perpetrated via Internet Explorer and Adobe Acrobat. Internet Explorer has had a really bad name in relation to security and even with the release of version 8 it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Again, you do need to take these reports with a pinch of salt being they come from mainstream media (read techno-illiterate and sensationalism seeking) and are about a competitor to Google (i.e. Microsoft). However, the most interesting thing is that I haven’t seen much response from Microsoft about the attacks (Did they also get attacked? If they didn’t why didn’t they? Or did they and they are just not admitting it?).

After using both Firefox and Chrome I can honestly see no need to return to Internet Explorer, it just feels old. Perhaps there is a need to really strip Internet Explorer back and make a really simple and secure version which is really what most people need. The problem in this business is once you fall behind it normally takes a monumental improvement in a product to catch up as it has to be so much better than what is already out there to even warrant attention. Personally, I can’t see Microsoft doing this. They have reached middle age and a technical leap of that size just doesn’t seem possible to them any more.

If the browser is the default application through which which most people access the web how many of these are unpatched and insecure? Even if you are up to date all these unpatched systems still represent a threat because when you are connected to the web you are also connecting to them. The joys of an interconnected world!

So what is your browser of choice? Whatever it is make sure it is up to date (as well as your version of Adobe Acrobat).

Pictures in my blog

I have had a few people say that they can’t see the pictures in this blog. I know about the issue and it seems to comes down to the reader you are using. As you can see, the two readers I use:

www.bloglines.com

and

www.google.com/reader

both work fine. The major issue seems to be with Outlook. Interesting that Microsoft Outlook does read Microsoft SharePoint correctly eh?

I do have it on my list of things to look at if I get a chance but I am still pondering whether I should move this blog into my updated www.ciaops.com web site. Still mulling that one over.