One of the simplest yet most powerful pieces of advice for good IT security is to use strong passwords. A strong password should draw from as many keys on the keyboard as possible, with at least three different factors:

1. How long is your password?
2. How many different types of characters (lower case, upper case, numbers, punctuation, spaces, etc.) are in your password?
3. How many different characters are in it? Be as random as possible! Replacing letters with similar looking numbers (O=0, 5-S, 3=E, etc.) can be an easy and memorable way to boost security.

With a strong enough password, hackers won’t be cracking into any of your accounts any time soon. Unfortunately, some sites place limitations on what characters can and cannot be used in a password— this may be an indication that their personal security infrastructure is somehow lacking. Major players like Google, MSN, Facebook, and Twitter all allow you to use anything you want in your password. So remember: a little creativity on the keyboard can lead to long term security success.

Just a few years ago, Microsoft looked like a real contender in the mobile-phone market. Windows Mobile accounted for about one quarter of all Smartphones as recently as 2004, and it was gaining ground. Then Apple and BlackBerry left the software giant in the dust. on February 16, at the wireless industry conference in Barcelona, Microsoft unveiled its latest effort to get back into the game: the renamed Windows Phone operating system.
Microsoft needs to be a player in the Smartphone market. Tasks once done on personal computers, are migrating to mobile devices. iPhone, Blackberry, and other phones have become the preferred way to read e-mail, check out Facebook or catch up on the news. Total shipments of Smartphones will more than double between 2009 and 2013, so Microsoft’s new mobile software has to be different to convince their customers that they are going to fundamentally change direction and regain share.

Windows Phone is much improved and has the advantage of easily handling word processing and spreadsheets sent from PCs. It will also be more integrated with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console and Zune music player, so users can share music and videos among their Microsoft devices. But that won’t solve another challenge the company faces in attracting customers: independent software developers who create new applications for mobile phones have mostly ignored Microsoft and focused instead on the iPhone and Google-backed Android phones. Developers have cooked up more than 140,000 apps for the iPhone alone. There are about 800 available in Microsoft’s online mobile store, though the company estimates 20,000 applications will ultimately run on its new operating system.

Microsoft has begun working more closely with hardware partners, such as HTC and LG, to share engineering resources and better customize their software to their particular phones. They also plan to reduce the number of hardware partners from 58 at the end of 2008 to between a half dozen and a dozen to gain more control over hardware and make sure the total experience is consistent and better.

Microsoft may look like they’re caught in a box right now, but analysts say not to underestimate their potential. They have a lot of funding, they have terrific engineering resources, and the game is not over.

When you select a block of text, Word assumes a lot. If you drag the mouse down, it automatically selects all of the text to the right of the cursor. Similarly, if you drag the mouse up, Word selects all the text to the left of the cursor. What if you want to select text moving up or down without selecting text to the right or left or the cursor? Fortunately, you can force Word to select a vertical block of text–ignoring the text to the right or the left–if you know the right keystroke.
To customize the selection area, position the cursor at the beginning (or end) of the block you want to select. Then, hold down the [Alt] key and drag your mouse up or down and right or left to select just the block you want—without Word’s interfering assumptions.
For a quick glimpse of what you can do, just click anywhere in the middle of some text, hold down the [Alt] key, and make a small circle with your mouse. By using the [Alt] key while dragging your mouse, you can customize the shape and size of the selected block of text—it’s up to you, not Word!

Yesterday I brought you Elizabeth Bowman’s tips on inbox management, here’s what she has to say about messages themselves:

Put a hooking key statement in the subject line. First impressions matter! And be specific– don’t send messages with subjects like QUESTION, IMPORTANT, or PLEASE RESPOND without including something specific.

If the entirety of your message can be conveyed by a subject line, do so! Just be sure to end the line with EOM (”end of message”). It’s like the e-mail equivalent of texting.

The body of your e-mail should begin with a quick statement of purpose. If you’re asking questions or making requests, be sure to separate each of them with bullets or a line of space.

If your messages seem too long or start covering too many topics, don’t be afraid to use several shorter e-mails to get the point across.

Always include a signature line with your contact information. Just be sure the information is up to date!

Slow down! Avoid typos, double check attachments, and review your to: and cc: fields.

Finally, six quick tips that will immediately improve how well your e-mail works for you:

1. Set rules to automatically filter messages.
2. Use categories and flags to highlight important messages.
3. Turn off automated mail checking.
4. Eliminate noisy alerts and popups that interrupt and distract you.
5. Move messages directly into your calendar.
6. Remove yourself from unnecessary mailing lists.

With these tips in place, 2010 will surely prove to be a tidy and productive year!

A recent study on laptop failure rates from SquareTrade, a PC warranty services provider, had some unsettling results: one in three laptops is likely to catastrophically fail within three years. But not all laptops are created equal, and some are more reliable than others. Here are the results among top manufacturers, from worst to best:

9. HP: They may be the laptop market share leader, but nearly 26% of their units failed within the three year study.

8. Gateway: The Acer subsidiary didn’t fare much better, with a failure rate of 23.5%

7. Acer: At #3 in overall sales, Gateway’s parent company was only marginally more reliable at 23.3%

6. Lenovo: A 21% failure rate from the Chinese-owned giant isn’t what you’d call inspiring.

5. Dell: Make fun of their ads and criticize their business practices all you want, but the oft maligned 2^nd place manufacturer was found to be more reliable than their top competitors, coming in at 18.3%.

4. Apple: They’re hip, attractive, innovative, and popular, but Mac Books aren’t immortal. Their 17.4% failure rate puts them in the middle of the pack.

3. Sony: Sony Vaio laptops aren’t cheap, but you get what you pay for with only a 16.8% incidence of crashing.

2. Toshiba: In recent years, they’ve lowered price without sacrificing quality: only a 15.7% chance of becoming a doorstop.

1. Asus: While not quite as much of a household name as many of the PC makers on this list, the quietly dominant Taiwanese company produces components for HP and Apple, and their own units experienced the lowest failure rate of all, edging out Toshiba with a healthy 15.6%.

Source: http://www.squaretrade.com, 2009

As computers become faster and more powerful, a single desktop PC possesses resources far greater than what’s necessary to keep a single user productive. That means lots of gigabytes and kilowatts simply going to waste. Through the process of virtualization, a company can turn a single PC into many “virtual desktops” for multiple users.  It was recently announced that a Silicon Valley firm specializing in large virtualization projects will provide over 30,000 virtual desktops to India’s government employee health insurance program. The project will unify thousands of hospitals, clinics, and insurance offices while creating one of the largest medical databases in the world, all at a 75% savings on hardware and a 90% savings on electricity.

Virtualization requires specialized software and a piece of hardware known as a thin client that connects a user’s monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the shared computer. On top of the cost savings, a virtualized system is less susceptible to network security threats and the amount of energy and materials saved make virtualization one of the greenest decisions a business can make.

Virtualization isn’t just for clients as massive as the Indian government, it can revolutionize how any business manages its IT budget and resources. When you work with Responza’s experts to manage your IT, virtualization is just one of the many cutting edge options we offer to save money, eliminate stress, and just make IT work better.

This holiday season, Google is spreading some cheer by offering free WiFi service on every Virgin America flight and in major airports across the country. That’s right folks. From now until January 15th, you can surf the web for free. Burbank and Seattle airports will be offering free WiFi indefinitely. For more information, check out Google’s official site: www.freeholidaywifi.com/.

It’s shocking to think something as private as your credit card number could be stolen so easily…

Alberto Gonzales and three other men were indicted on Monday for stealing over 130 million credit card numbers from several Fortune 500 companies. So how did he do it? Simple. Gonzalez and his team was able to exploit end users that didn’t know how poor their security was by launching “hacking platforms” on each of their point-of-sale systems, along with the classic SQL-injection attacks. He then used malware to extract credit and debit card numbers.

The companies hit hardest were ones who had taken their security systems for granted. Makes you think twice about your network security, doesn’t it? Just think of all the money and classified information at stake…

To read the full story of this harrowing identity theft, click here.

Netgear just announced its latest product for the small business market: the ProSafe 8-Port VPN Firewall (model FVS318G). At only $139, this firewall is ideal for small businesses that need externally facing network resources like a Web server but have strict internal LAN security requirements. The new firewall also employs a software-configurable hardware DMZ port to help facilitate a server connection or another connection for a device on the network that remote users need to access.

“Our experience with the FVS318G on the network has been very positive,” said Johnny Chin, president and chief executive officer at Onesimus Enterprises, whose company participated in the beta test program. “For the price, we were impressed with the level of features offered along with enhanced security measures against outside attackers. Best of all, it’s fast enough to keep up with our high-speed broadband Internet connection, so we’re both protected and running at top speed.”

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The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce is hosting a great networking event at the Rainier Square Conference Center in downtown Seattle. The topic is “Developing a Social Media Plan for Your Business”. Two of Microsoft’s top social media experts are presenting. Here are a few things they will cover:

• The importance of a social media presence
• How to market your business online
• Which networks are most effective for your customers
• How to build relationships online, interact with customers and find social media mentors

I plan on attending, so I’ll take copious notes and report back with any juicy tips!

If you’re curious, here’s a link to the event:
Technology Thursday – Developing a Social Media Plan for Your Business