SADA Speaks

Google Adds New Tips Page to Gmail

2009-07-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

Are you a Gmail Ninja? Check out the new Gmail Tips to find out.

At the time of its release, and even to this day, Gmail challenged the way people thought about web-based email. When it was made available to the general public on February 7th, 2007, Gmail differed from other services like Yahoo Mail and MSN Hotmail in a number of ways:

Email messages are arranged into threads called 'conversations.' Rather than organizing email sequentially by date, by sender, or by subject.
The storage capacity of Gmail in its original closed beta was 1GB at a time when the most you could get from competing services of 2-4MB.
Spam filtering in Gmail was community driven. This helps Gmail as a whole learn to filter similar messages for all users, not just user who marks a message as spam.
From the start Gmail was heavily search-oriented. Google used their own search technology to allow Gmail users to search their inbox for messages.

Today Gmail has well over 100 million users. Now Google is asking those users, "Are you using everything Gmail has to offer?" From the days of the original closed beta Google has continued to improve on what was already an innovative system. Many users aren't aware of everything Gmail can do for them. To help educate the masses, and undoubtedly to help drive up the number of people adopting Gmail, Google has created a fun guide to many of the features in Gmail. Gmail tips is a link located at the top of your Gmail inbox.

That link leads you to a page where Google provides a guide to "Become a Gmail Ninja." The different features in Gmail are divided into four levels:

White Belt: Includes basic features like how to use stars to mark a note as special, how to reply by chat, and how to organize email using Gmail's label system. Each rank is also divided by how much email a person deals with in a day. The typical Gmail White Belt is a user who only gets a few emails a day, and maybe only uses Gmail as an alternate email solution.
Green Belt: Covers more advanced features like using Google video chat in Gmail, adding filters to incoming mail, and adding the forgotten attachment detector available in labs (and my favorite Gmail gadget by far). The typcial Gmail Green Belt is a user who gets a moderate amount of email every day and/or uses Gmail as their exclusive mail system.
Black Belt: At the Black Belt level the Google guide goes over speeding up Gmail through keyboard shortcuts, filtering email with personalized email addresses, and setting up canned responses (definitely a useful feature). The typical Gmail Black Belt is a user who is definitely using Gmail exclusively, and someone who deals with a lot of email messages every day.
The Master: A Gmail Master is someone who uses Google Docs and Google Calendar within Gmail, can sign out of their account remotely if it is left open on a public computer, and has personalized RSS feeds in web clips. Like the Black Belt the Gmail Master uses only Gmail as their email client, and they deal with a massive amount of email per day.

The features described at each level above are only a small sample of those offered by Gmail and Google Labs. To make it easier for the average user to choose the features they want, Google has published this guide online, and also made available a PDF version that users can print. Google also offers a laminated guide for $1.25. The laminated guide was given away for free to the first 1,024 (get it?) users to request a copy.

Further Reading

Take a look at some of the links below for more about Gmail Tips.

Gmail tips on the official Google Blog
How to Become a Gmail Ninja reported on Softpedia
Google Offering Gmail Ninja Lessons on Information Week's "Grok on Google" column

SADA Helps Save the Day for Fielding Graduate University

2009-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

SADA Systems, Virtualization Key to Fielding Graduate University Staying Operational Through Devastating Fires.

When fires in Santa Barbara last month threatened Fielding Graduate University and forced an evacuation, SADA was there to help put the university's disaster recovery plan into action.

In a recent article published in NetworkWorld, SADA Systems Inc. and SADA's Director of IT Services were identified as key players in supporting Fielding Graduate University's disaster-recovery plan. Fires that broke out in the Santa Barbara area in May forced the evacuation of the University. While some staff were routed to hotels outside of the mandatory evacuation area, the university's Director of Network Operations Deby DeWeese was hard at work ensuring the university's students and faculty who are distributed throughout the U.S. and beyond could keep working in their online academic environment. The solution came in the form of a network-in-a-box making use of blade servers, set up at another location. Then it became clear the university would remain evacuated for an extended period of time. "We could see flames from our office windows and ash was falling from the sky," DeWeese said. "We couldn't keep doing network-in-a-box, we needed to get something up and running somewhere else."

To keep the network available for those who depend on it DeWeese called on their disaster recover vendor, SBWH, and their network engineering company, CIO Solutions. SBWH provided an engineer who cleared rackspace for the university's blade systems, their disk array, and their Microsoft Data Protection Manager. CIO Solutions provided a network engineer and planning space in their offices. This team did some quick planning for the blades and the necessary network configuration. Then everything was plugged in and turned on, which restored the university's network in a location that was a safe distance from the fire.

DeWeese then reached out to SADA's Director of IT Services, Niv Dolgin, and engineer Kevin Palmer. Once the network was restored it was necessary to ensure that email was working properly, and that graduate students and faculty had access to the necessary network resources to continue working. Dolgin and Palmer worked with DeWeese, SBWH, and CIO Solutions to restore email and network connectivity.

When all was done, Fielding Graduate University went from a network-in-a-box to a remote network in a virtual environment in just over 24 hours. In this way university students and faculty were able to continue working while the fires destroyed more than 8,000 acres. When the fires were contained and local fire authorities sounded the all clear, Dolgin and Palmer once again assisted DeWeese and SBWH, and CIO Solutions with returning their network to its home environment.

Without quick response, a solid disaster-recovery plan, and assistance from key vendors like SADA Systems, Inc. the University might have been disabled for a week or more. For Fielding Graduate University the disaster-recovery plan and quick response from SADA provided a significant part of the support they needed to stay productive without lengthy interruption.

Open Multiple Excel 2007 Windows

2009-07-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

A work-around covered by tip site Online Tech Tips allows you to open more than one session of Microsoft Excel 2007.

A lot of us now need to use Microsoft Excel to one extent or another. If you use it to plan your family's budget, or to keep track of your comic book collection you may not have run into one of Excel's major shortcomings. Excel 2007 does not allow you to open a new session in a separate window, so that you can see two spreadsheets side-by-side. This becomes a major problem if you want to run a task such as calculating everything on one spreadsheet. If there are other spreadsheets open, Excel will recalculate those as well, whether or not their data is related.

To be fair, Excel does allow you to change how windows are arranged. You can use this to open two spreadsheets in the same Excel session by changing the "Arrange All" option to "vertical." This makes your open spreadsheet documents appear side-by-side in a single Excel window. While this sounds like Excel supports viewing two spreadsheets at once, it's really only helpful if you have two monitors or a good-sized wide screen monitor. It's not as helpful if you have a single, smaller (19" or less, viewable area) monitor with a 4:3 aspect ratio. It also doesn't eliminate problems like the calculation issue mentioned above. Also, if you open a third spreadsheet document Excel will arrange it alongside the other two.

This article posted on www.onlinetechtips.com solves the problem by making use of a registry hack. The term 'registry' refers to a database in Windows that stores options and settings. Don't let the term 'hack' scare you away. This is not a malware exploit of a Windows vulnerability. In this case 'hack' can be used interchangeably with 'workaround.' To make use of this option you will need to download this zip file. It includes five different files. Each file does something different. The features set by each file include:

Add the 'open in new Excel instance' and make it the default
Only adds the new instance option
Only makes the new instance option the default
Remove the open in new instance option
Undo the default setting for the open in new instance option

All of the above are basic text files. To make use of this feature you will need to rename each file and change ".txt" to ".reg." Then double click the file and click OK when prompted (Excel should be closed when you do this). That's it! The option will now appear in the menu that opens when you right-click on an excel icon (pictured below).

For all the details read the article on OnlineTechTips.

Microsoft Offers Windows 7 Home Premium for $50 if You Pre-Order

2009-06-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

For the next two weeks Microsoft will offer customers who pre-order the Home Premium edition of the latest version of the Windows operating system at a discounted price of $50.

On Friday, June 26th Microsoft kicked of a Windows 7 promotion that will end July 11th. In that time customers will be able to pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium Edition for $50 ($49.99). Stores participating in the promotion include Amazon.com, Best Buy, and you can order direct from Microsoft through their website. Also available at a temporary promotional price is the Professional version. That edition is available for pre-order at the discount price of $100 ($99.99).

Special pricing for Windows 7 applies only to the upgrade packages and not the full versions. The full versions of both Home Premium and Professional are available to pre-order, but must be purchased at full price.

Microsoft has also announced the full retail prices for Windows 7 when it becomes available in retail locations later this year. The Home Premium Edition will be $119.99 for the upgrade, with the full version costing $199.99. The Professional Edition upgrade will be sold full price for $199.99, with the full version running $299.99.

Microsoft's decision to offer Windows 7 at a significantly discounted price if you pre-order is proving to be hugely popular, if Amazon.com is any way to judge. Since the announcement the Home Premium Edition has jumped to the number 1 selling item out of all products available in Amazon's entire electronics catalog, not just software. The Professional edition also jumped substantially, landing in the number 2 spot among software products.

Here are some links to online retailers offering Windows 7 at the discounted prices for pre-order:

For further reading about Microsoft's offer and Windows 7 click one of the links below:

Microsoft discounts Windows 7 article in Computer world
Windows 7 pre-order a hit article on CNET News

The End of Analog Television Begins Today

2009-06-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

Today is the final day for television stations to broadcast programming using analog radio signals.

If the next time you switch on the television you see nothing but static, you won't be alone. The FCC estimates that some 1 million television viewers are as yet unprepared for the digital television transition. To accommodate a likely flood of calls and requests from confused television viewers the FCC has put 4,000 operators on standby. Demonstration centers have also been set up in several cities to help people understand the digital transition, and how they can continue to get their programming.

The DTV transition marks the largest change to television viewing in sixty years. The last big change in the television industry was the switchover from black and white to color broadcast. The change was initiated as part of the Digital Television and Public Safety Act of 2005. The bill returns the analog bandwidth currently used by television broadcasters to use by emergency agencies. The date for the transition to digital television was originally set for February 17th of 2009. The Obama administration, fearing catastrophic backlash from television consumers unprepared for the transition, pushed the date back an additional four months. The FCC feels confident this move has greatly reduced the level of disruption that may be caused by the transition.

Here are some things to know about the digital television transition.

Any television manufactured after March of 2007 is required by law to include a digital tuner.
If you purchased a new television after that date, you don't need digital converter box.
If you already subscribe to satellite or cable television services, you already get digital programming and don't need a digital tuner.
Most televisions manufactured after 2004 will include a digital tuner. Check with your manufacturer to be sure. Many sets were sold as "HD-Ready" or "HDTV monitor," meaning they have the hardware required to display a high-definition image, but require a converter or cable TV connection to receive a digital signal.
Television sets made before 2000 will most likely require a digital converter box.
If your television was manufactured after 2007 and includes a digital tuner, but your image is either garbled, or the station displays either static or a "please upgrade your hardware" message, you may only need a digital antenna.

Some additional resources to help understand the digital television transition:

Associated press report on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ovqj3RJEuE
The official digital television transition website: http://www.dtv.gov/

Google Apps Get Docx and Xlsx support

2009-06-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

Users of Google Apps can now upload documents created using the native Office 2007 format.

Early this week Google answered one of the most common questions about uploading documents to Google Apps. Previously, Google Docs allowed the upload of documents and spreadsheets created in versions of Word or Excel up to Office 2003, or those created using open formats such as those supported by Open Office. Office 2007, however, was not supported. On Monday Google announced on the official Google Docs blog that users may now upload their Office 2007 documents and spreadsheets to Google Docs.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education, Team and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by Google Docs

How to access what's new:
To import a .docx or .xlsx file into Google Docs, click the 'Upload' button from the Google Docs List menu, select your file, and click the 'Upload File' button.

For more information:
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/06/file-formats-keep-on-coming-announcing.html

MORE Great New Features in Google Apps!

2009-05-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

If you get a message in your Gmail inbox from your cousin in Germany, a business associate in Mexico or a pen pal in Japan and it's written in their native language, the Labs folks at Google have another innovation for you. Using Google Translate technology, Gmail will offer to translate the message from the original language to your own default language (or any other language you choose).

To enable this feature, within Gmail click on Gmail Labs (either the tab or the green beaker icon) and click "enable" under Translation. When Gmail detects one of your messages is in a language other than your default language, you'll see a header at the top of the message. Click the link that says Translate message to.... Your message will be translated inline (no need to open a new tab or window).

In other Apps related news, Google has made some big updates to Google Sites including allowing for hierarchical navigation of your Site's pages, refreshing the edit menu to be more consistent with Google Docs and switched the site settings area to vertical navigation to prepare for upcoming features, one of which, according to Jens Alfke of Google, is Google AdSense integration.

(Hat tip to Google Operating System and The Official Google Apps Blog )

Google Calendar Adds Tasks!

2009-05-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Google innovation continues to add more features to Google Apps, the premier software as a service based suite of messaging and collaboration applications that offers organizations powerful productivity tools.

Google has recently added tasks to Google Calendar, after previously introducing the function as a Gmail Labs feature. Tasks will appear in the Tasks Gadget on the right side of your calendar grid. Using this feature, you can now assign due dates to your tasks that will appear on the "All Day" event section of Google Calendar.

You can create tasks either by clicking on an empty space in the "All Day" section or in Month view and then choose the task option. You can manage your tasks in the Tasks Gadget on the right side of your calendar. To mark a task as complete from within Calendar click on the checkbox next to the task. For more instructions on using tasks please click here.

Whether your business is moving everything to the cloud, just wants an affordable email solution or struggles to give employees access to critical information, Google Apps will help you stretch resources and work smarter. SADA has a demonstrated track record and competency in the implementation and customization of Google Apps. Give us a call today at 866.997.0000 or visit us at http://www.sadasystems.com/services-and-solutions/google-apps.

Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Announced

2009-05-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry® Enterprise Server allows users to access Gmail, Google Calendar and Contacts using built-in BlackBerry® applications. Google Apps Connector installs on BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, connecting it to the Google Apps servers and synchronizes email, calendar and contacts for BlackBerry® users.

Editions included:
Premier and Education Editions

Languages included:
US English

How to access what's new:
Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry® Enterprise Server is currently in beta testing with select companies and universities, and will be available free of charge to all Premier and Education Edition customers this July.

For more information on this new feature please contact Michael Higby at 818.942.1094 or michael.higby@sadasystems.com.

Plain Paper Tweeting

2009-05-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

This might be today's equivalent of hooking up the old gray mare to a Model T Truck circa 1923 but if one does not have access to a computer or consider themselves fully digitally literate they can still have take advantage of hot social networking services like Twitter using a fax machine.

For $14 a month the Celery fax-to-email service makes available the latest "killer app," that is, the ability to post to and receive messages from Twitter via fax through handwritten messages. The service also allows a user to update their Facebook status and receive RSS feeds.

Someday our grandchildren will say, "Huh?"

SADA Launches Client Referral Rewards Program

2009-05-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

We would like to take a moment to extend a personal thank you for helping SADA Systems grow last year. We really appreciate you helping “spread the word” about our company and the services we provide. In case you may not recall all of the services we provide, please visit this page on our website, which lists everything. Maybe there are needs you have we may not be providing yet - if so, please let me know. We'll be more than happy to help.

Also, we would like to extend a $25 Visa gift card for any future referral as a small token of our appreciation. If a referral turns into a SADA client, we will forward an additional $250 Visa gift card. Hey, in this economy, every little bit goes a long way.

Referring clients to SADA is easy, simply click here, and fill out the form.

We look forward to continuing to work with you for the rest of 2009
and beyond. Thank you for your continued business.

New in Labs: Google Search right in Gmail

2009-05-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

From the Official Gmail Blog:

Posted by Adam de Boor, Software Engineer

I used to have a problem. People would ask me questions, over chat or email, and I'd have to leave Gmail to search Google for an answer. Then I'd have to select the answer, copy it, go back to Gmail and paste the answer into the chat window or my reply. Sometimes I'd get distracted and forget to go back to Gmail, and I'd have to go through it all again when I remembered what I'd been doing.

With the new Google Search experiment in Gmail Labs, my problem is solved. When you turn this feature on from the Labs tab under Settings, you'll see a new search box on the left side of your inbox, like this:

Type your search in, and a window (like a chat window, but a bit bigger) appears at the bottom of your screen with the first few search results.

You can click on a search result and it'll open up in another window (or another tab) so you can make sure it's what you're looking for. Once you're sure it's a result you need, moving your mouse over the result back in Gmail reveals a pull-down menu that lets you do stuff with the search result.

What's in the menu depends on what you're doing in Gmail:

If you're reading a message, you can start a reply to the message with the search result as the first thing in your reply.
If you're writing a message, you can paste the result, or just the URL into your message.
If you're chatting with someone, you can send the result via chat.
You can also always compose a new message to send the search result.

If you have keyboard shortcuts turned on, typing g and then / will take you to the search box when you're not composing, and Ctrl + g will do it when you're composing (that's ⌘ + g for Mac users).

Like all things in Gmail Labs, we're going to be tinkering with it, so let us know what you think.

Oh, and one other thing: with all the stuff we've been adding to Gmail Labs lately, the left side of your account might be getting crowded. A lot of the people who've been playing with this new feature have found it useful to turn on "Navbar drag and drop" in Labs so they can move the web search box up to the top where it's easy to get to.

Sheet protection in Google Docs spreadsheets

2009-05-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

You can now control who can edit individual sheets in a Google Docs spreadsheet.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education, Team and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by Google Docs

How to access what's new:
To protect a specific sheet, select the sheet and click the down arrow next to the sheet's name, and select the 'Protect sheet' option. Next, select who is allowed to edit the sheet from the 'Protect sheet' preferences box.

For more information:
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/04/sheet-protection-gives-you-finer.html

Law Offices Website Gets the SADA Touch

2009-04-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

SADA launches updated website for the law offices of Newman, Aaronson, and Vanaman (NAV).

NAV is a law firm in Southern California that has been providing legal assistance to children with disabilities, and to families with disabled members, since 1981. NAV was initially one of SADA's managed services clients, and they became a web development client as well. Their website, initially created by SADA, provided an adequate online resource for clients and

potential clients. Over time the original website, like any website, grew outdated. Some content on the website was no longer relevant, and the techniques used to create it, while leading edge

at the time, are now obsolete. The time had come to re-create the look of NAV online.

When NAV approached SADA to redesign their website they asked for updates that would allow them to do two new things. They would be able to update the website on their own. In addition they wanted the ability to stream video answers to questions received from clients, and visitors to their websites.

To provide the needed functionality SADA proposed developing the updated website on the Joomla Content Management System (CMS). To keep cost and development time low, SADA also recommended using an existing template. SADA and NAV worked together to select a template and ensure the existing web host would be able to accommodate the updated websites open-source platform.

The final product provides NAV with vastly upgraded functionality, and opens the website to them in a way that may not have been doable even just a few years ago. Some improvements include:

Javascript driven slideshow header on the home page.
Updated media page featuring an updated photo gallery.
NAV has the ability to edit website content through the front end.
A new, updated look and layout.
A question & answer page featuring video answers to questions.

To see the finished product and explore the NAV website visit this address, http://www.navlaw.net/.

Yahoo Shutters Geocities After 15 Year Run

2009-04-24T09:26:00.001-07:00

The year was 1994. A fragment of the comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed into Jupiter. Award winning actress Dakota Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia. And an upstart dotcom - Beverly Hills Internet - later to be better known as Geocities was founded in Southern California.

Founded by David Bohnett and John Rezner Geocities offered users the opportunity to build and host webpages, chat boards and discussion forums, essentially social media before anyone knew what that meant. Yahoo bought Geocities for $2.9 billion in 1999 and announced Friday it would be shuttering the service by the end of the year. Tech writer Steven Shankland, posting at cnet News noted that while what Geocities offered is now a mainstay of the web - with sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter - "GeoCities turned out to be a backwater, not the mainstream. "

Geocities is no longer taking new sign-ups and is promising for now to continue to host existing sites until the end of the year, though there is no clear answer what will happen to users' sites after that.

Users of the service may want to consider migrating to Google Sites, a far more robust and highly collaborative offering that is integrated with Google Apps. Coincidentally, Google has announced that it is rolling up it's own page creation/hosting service - Google Page Creator - into Google Sites, offering users many additional features and much richer functionality.

Automatic transition of Page Creator pages to Google Sites

2009-04-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

To make the transition to Google Sites as easy as possible for Page Creator users, we will be doing an automatic transition of Page Creator pages to Google Sites, which will include moving pages to Google Sites and redirecting visits to content in Page Creator to the new location on Google Sites.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education, Team and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by Google Sites

How to access what's new:
The transition of Page Creator pages to Google Sites will happen automatically. From now until this transition begins on June 1, 2009, Page Creator users who don't want to be moved to Google Sites have the option to download their content, host it on another service, and redirect their existing Page Creator URLs. These options are available via the 'Learn more' link at the top of your Site Manager in Page Creator.

For more information:
http://googleappsposts.blogspot.com/2009/04/now-moving-to-google-sites.html

Google Looks at Ajax to Make Searches Faster

2009-04-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

Google, the global leader in Internet search will be changing the way search functions by making use of Ajax.
Ajax is an acronym that stands for Asynchronous Javascript and XML. The acronym describes a set of utilities used by programmers to create web applications. Now Google will be using Ajax in Search Engine Results Pages or SERPs. This was tested on a small number of users in March. The new platform allowed the test group of users to take advantage of javascript enhanced search results. Changes to SERPs and the Google Search platform are being made in an effort to make search faster and more relevant for the user. At the time of the test some referers and analytics companies sent feedback to Google that indicated the new platform generated results that prevented analytics programs from capturing the search query used to arrive at the website. In their video, embedded on the Google Operating System story linked below, Google addresses this feedback.

For more information see some of the links below:

Google Operating System posted a story about Google Search using Ajax. Click here to view the story.
Read Write Web posted this article about Google's Ajax-driven Search platform.
CNET news posted this story about Google enhancing the speed of search results.

SADA Client Kaiser Permanente Honored for Excellence in Health Information Technology

2009-04-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

Kaiser Permanente awarded top honor from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Kaiser Permanente is a leading health and medical services organization, with a national network of medical centers. As a leader in the health care industry, Kaiser continually aims to set the bar for innovation and service. As an organization, Kaiser Permanente achieved a new benchmark when they were recently awarded Stage 7 certification by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

HIMSS, or HIMSS Analytics, is an organization that helps healthcare providers and healthcare networks by providing consulting and analytical services. HIMSS specifically provides metrics and feedback to healthcare organizations related to IT process and environments, products, IS department composition and costs. Part of the HIMSS mission is the tracking of healthcare provider implementation of Electronic Medical Records (EMR).

The HIMSS model scores hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics database based upon their progress in completing 8 stages, numbered 0-7. EMR Stage 0 (zero) represents no adoption, and Stage 7 represents a healthcare facility or organization that has fully implemented an electronic/paperless medical record program.

Kaiser Permanente is distinguished as being the first national healthcare provider to have medical centers within their network awarded Stage 7 recognition by HIMSS Analytics. All of the medical centers honored for reaching Stage 7 are located in California. Kaiser's Stage 7 honorees include the following medical centers:

Antioch Medical Center
Fremont Medical Center
Hayward Medical Center
Irvine Medical Center
Manteca Hospital
Modesto Medical Center
Roseville Medical Center
Sacramento Medical Center
Santa Rosa Medical Center
South Sacramento Medical Center
South San Francisco Medical Center
Walnut Creek Medical Center

SADA is proud to have Kaiser Permanente as a client. SADA applauds Kaiser's commitment to finding innovative, technology-based solutions to challenges in business process efficiency, fast and effective customer/patient service, and environmental consciousness.

Links:

The HIMSS Stage 7 Awards Press Release
Kaiser Permanente's Press Release
The HIMSS 2009 Conference website
The HIMSS Analytics website
Chart of the HIMSS Analytics' EMR adoption model

New Google Secure Data Connector for encrypted connections to firewalled data

2009-04-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

With Google Secure Data Connector, employees you specify can interact with authorized data from your on-premise applications within Google Sites, Google Docs and custom App Engine applications, even when employees aren't on your corporate network.

Editions included:
Premier and Education Editions

Languages included:
US English

How to access what's new:

To download and begin using the Google Secure Data Connector, administrators should sign into the administrative control panel, go to 'Advanced tools' and follow the links under the 'Secure Data Connector' section.

Learn how to upgrade to Google Apps Premier Edition to use this feature.

For more information:
http://code.google.com/securedataconnector/

Arial and Times New Roman fonts in Google Docs

2009-04-13T19:09:00.001-07:00

Arial and Times New Roman fonts are now available in the text editor in Google Docs for users who have these fonts locally installed on their computers.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education, Team and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by Google Docs

How to access what's new:
Arial and Times New Roman will appear in the font drop-down from the menu bar if these fonts are detected as being locally installed on your computer.

Add Photos to a Gmail Message

2009-04-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

Until now it wasn't possible to embed or insert an image into a Gmail message using the web based interface; however the folks at Gmail Labs have now made this possible as an optional feature.

To enable this feature go to the Gmail Labs tab, look for "inserting images" and select enable followed by clicking "save changes."

Once you've done that just click on the images icon on the Gmail toolbar while composing a message. You can insert images in two ways: by uploading image files from your computer or providing image URLs.

A couple of caveats from Google:

Make sure you're in rich formatting mode, or it won't show up.
Keep in mind that Gmail doesn't show URL-based images in messages by default to protect you from spammers, so if you're sending mail to other Gmail users, they'll still have to click "Display images below" or "Always display images from ..." to see images you embed.

The Best Line of Defense Against Conficker

2009-04-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Managed services provided by SADA help to ensure computer users are protected against potential Conficker 2.0 attacks.

April 1st marked an evolutionary step in a troubling computer worm known as Conficker. Conficker, also known as downup, downadup, and kido was originally detected in October 2008. The original strain of Conficker was a particularly troublesome worm due to the application of advanced malware techniques used to create it. The original worm spread very quickly through Windows-based PCs due in part to the malware techniques it deploys, and due to the number of users who failed to patch their systems for a specific vulnerability. As a result an estimated 9 to 15 million systems were affected worldwide by January of this year. The most disturbing thing about Conficker is perhaps that no one is really sure what the worm's actual purpose might be.

On April 1st the Conficker virus deployed a new way to propagate itself, and the worm is now more difficult to detect and remove. These updates apply to the "C Strain" of the Conficker worm, and may prevent users with infected systems from getting updates or patches from Microsoft and other security vendors.

How to Stay Safe
The best defense against any worm or virus attack is simply common sense. Make sure that you have applied the latest security patches available from Microsoft. Your system should be running a high quality security suite such as those available from McAfee and Symantec, these should also be up-to-date. Stay away from websites that make offers like "free Conficker detection and removal package" or "is your computer infected by Conficker? Click here to find out." Such sites or alerts are likely to actually install Conficker on your system.

It should be noted that a number of articles published in the last day or two claim the threat represented by Conficker is overstated, and just so much hype. A word of caution against this kind of thinking, security experts agree that a threat is still present, and the Conficker virus may have infected more systems than previously estimated. Also, it is important to reiterate that Conficker is a massive bot-net whose purpose is still largely unknown.

SADA Protects Clients from Conficker Infection
Managed service clients of SADA Systems, Inc. can rest easy knowing that systems monitored and managed by SADA are secure. By April 1st SADA had already patched all remotely managed systems with the necessary security updates. These updates were done quietly, in the background, and seamlessly, providing our clients with the latest security updates and patches, without interrupting their workflow or affecting productivity.

This process makes an interesting argument for the application of managed services as a means to prevent possibly serious malware infections. Most businesses employ an IT Personnel either full-time, or through a vendor, and depend on their IT Personnel to handle updates and patches to their systems. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this model, it does present a couple of inefficiencies. The foremost of which is the cost. It is significantly more expensive to hire a full time IT support person, than it is to pay for a managed services contract. The second is in response time. One of the major advantages to a managed services model is the management of systems is handled remotely, and the tools available mean that systems are being monitored twenty-four hours a day, every day. Not only are valuable IT personnel not redirected away from critical projects, but if a system becomes compromised at any hour of the day a technician is notified.

In the case of the Conficker virus the managed services vendor is more pro-active than reactive, an important distinction when dealing with potentially serious malware threats. When a new threat is anticipated or discovered SADA is able to roll out patches and security updates to all of our managed service clients. These updates take place in the background, across all managed systems, and without having to contact the client or interrupt their work. As a result, systems don't become infected, and don't in turn become another point of origin for the malware attack to propagate itself.

Additional reading:

For more on the Conficker virus check out this Wikipedia Article

On the irreverent side of things, Wired Magazine has established the Conficker War Room a live blog of events that may or may not be related to Conficker infections. Most likely not.

Wired Magazine also created a simple animation that helps explain how worms like Conficker work.

Anti-Virus and Security Packages:
The following are links to security packages that receive top-honors from PC World magazine. To view the full article click here.

Avira Anti-Virus

Norton Internet Security

McAfee Internet Security Suite

Managed Services:
Click here for more information about managed services from SADA Systems, Inc.

Google Now Allows Non-Unique Email Addresses in Gmail Contacts

2009-03-31T18:31:00.001-07:00

You can now associate an email address with more than one contact in Gmail's contact manager.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education, Team and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by Gmail

How to access what's new:
Click 'Contacts' from your Gmail inbox, and select '+' to create a new contact. Enter your contact's information and click 'Save'. It is now possible to create another contact with a different 'Name', but same 'Email'.

Microsoft Releases Latest Version of Internet Explorer

2009-03-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

In hot pursuit of the latest releases of Safari and Chrome (beta), Microsoft makes Internet Explorer 8 available for download.

In a bid to reclaim market share eroded by the growth of alternative web browsers like Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome, Microsoft launches Internet Explorer 8. Yesterday's launch marks the end of a year long public beta test phase.

New features in the latest update to the venerable browser are aimed squarely at users of the other browsers. Microsoft claims the new browser offers improved security features (a long-lamented short-coming of Internet Explorer), an easier to use design, and speed improvements. Among key improvements to IE8 is the introduction of web 'accelerators.' This feature allows users to right-click on highlighted text or links and then either connect directly to a map, use the text to start a blog entry, or enter the selected text as a search term.

It remains to be seen what impact, if any, the release of the new operating system will have on potentially shoring up the decline of Microsoft's market share in the browser market. Many users who have moved to other browsers may not head the launch of IE8, and simply continue to use one of the freely-available alternatives. The biggest impact on the browser market that Internet Explorer is likely to have will be on how competing companies plan the release of updates and new features for their products. Google Chrome has already announced that a developer's beta version of Chrome 2.0 is available for download. Mozilla has also announced the availability of Firefox 3.1 beta 3 for download. While the release of Internet Explorer 8 represents a significant improvement and Microsoft's browser has caught up with features available from the others. Even so, the true test of Microsoft's latest salvo in the browser wars will be whether or not IE8 is overshadowed by updates published by popular competitors.

Collaboration Between Google and Adobe to Produce Search Engine Friendly Flash Content

2009-03-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

Google and Adobe give a leg up to search engine optimization by making websites created in Flash more readily indexed by search engines.

One long standing hurdle in developing search engine friendly websites has been Flash development. Adobe's Flash tool set provides a set of utilities for creating dynamic, attractive, animated websites. Until very recently search engines could not index content in websites created using Flash. To address this problem, Google and Adobe are collaborating to improve the ability of search engines to 'read' website content contained in Flash files.

Adobe took the lead in making their Flash content more readily indexed by search engines last summer when they provided Google with their Flash technology. Last summer's hand off of Flash to Google was supplemented last week when Adobe established a new SEO Technology Center for Flash. The SEO Technology Center for Flash is a new website from Adobe that focuses on providing developers with informative and helpful articles for creating Flash websites. Articles posted to the website focus on techniques to make Flash websites better indexed by Google and other leading search engines.

What does this mean for you? As this collaboration between Google and Adobe bears fruit you will likely begin to see more sites developed exclusively in Flash among the top results of a search term in Google. If you are a developer or if you work in search engine optimization this will have a greater impact on you. If you are a web developer, you will likely be able to stop warning clients away from Flash development on those projects where SEO is a key component. If your work is primarily in search engine optimization, you will be able to extend your services to clients whose websites make use of components developed in Flash.

Links to resources online:

Adobe's SEO Technology Center website
Search Engine Land article about crawling Flash content