I am a news junkie. I read the news when I get a spare moment and when I am in the car I listen to the news. If I am at home and the TV is on there is a good chance that it will be on the news. If not the news then most likely the kids have overtaken the TV and we are watching the Disney Channel. When that happens, or when I happen to be out and about I can always get the latest news by jumping on my twitter feed, or if I want just news then I use my twitter news list. I actually started using twitter long before I ever really started tweeting. Even now I use twitter for gathering information more than I do to share information, although I have slowly been changing that. While I think that there are a lot of people who have no desire to tweet or use twitter in that way I think a lot of people should look at twitter for other reasons. It is a great tool to gather specific information about what interests you and compile it in one place. For example I have a Twitter News List that I follow and on that list is various news outlets. By checking this feed I can get a quick look at everything that is going on across several news sources. This can be done with sports, local events, technology or any thing that you can possible think of.

This is not a review about twitter so let me get to the real point here. Flipboard for the iPad. As I said twitter is a great place to gather all of the stuff that interests you. Flipboard will take that data and put it in a format that looks like digital newspaper or magazine. I can open my news list and see a custom newspaper full of just the information that I want to include. I flip through the pages by swiping my finger and watching the page turn to the next. If I see an article or picture that I like I just click on it to open it up and read the full story.

So maybe you are not convinced to marry this app with Twitter, that is still ok. If you use Facebook, which is practically everyone, then you can view your Facebook account in a magazine layout instead of scrolling down your wall. You can flip through the pages as if Facebook were a book. You can interact and update, comment on pictures and posts all from Flipboard. Plus there are web magazines and other content that is easily added right from the main menu. Flipbord does a magnificent job of laying the material out on the iPad screen. If you are looking for a unique way to browse your social media and other content then you should take a look at Flipboard.

While I guess there is no right way to use Flipboard it is hard not to see the value of Flipboard and twitter together. If you have an iPad and have never setup a twitter account well now is the time and Flipboard is the reason. Check it out and create your own custom news feed. Or just follow one of mine.

My News List
My Tech List

One last thing. As I was getting ready to post this I went to the Flipboard web site and see that they have released the iPhone version today (downloading as I type this).

More info on the Windows 8 Tablet.

If you are like most companies you are probably backing up your data to tape, which is an aging technology. Now days with hard drive space so inexpensive it is possible to have a superior solution that does much more than just backup your data to tape each night. Now companies big and small can have a complete disaster recovery solution that not only protects your data but protects your entire network allowing you to recover from just about anything quickly and efficiently. Plus your data can be transferred offsite each night so that you no longer have to worry about taking tapes offsite as many companies do now. Each night we can securely transfer all of your data to an offsite secure location so that your data resides in two places, on site with you and off site as well in case of a fire or some other disaster.

Check out our newest commercial on YouTube for details and if you still have questions give us a call and we can answer them for you.

According to the WSJ.com the iPhone is coming to Verizon.

“Apple Inc. plans to begin mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year, said people briefed by Apple.
The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T Inc. but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon, these people said. The phone, for which Qualcomm Inc. is providing a key chip, is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year, according to the same people.”

I know a lot of Verizon customers that would love an iPhone but refuse to switch to AT&T.

We have also created a YouTube page and will soon be adding instructional and training videos and maybe a few other things as well. We do not have anything up there yet but you can follow us on twitter or facebook and be among the first to be notified when they show up.

Speaking of facebook, if you have not visited our page and hit the “Like” button remember that there is no time like the present.

Last week I ordered a computer for a customer, an HP Pro 3000 SFF PC.  The PC arrived and when our engineer un-boxed it and set it up it would not power on, it was dead.  No problem, it happens I understand that.  We called HP support to get it fixed and since it is a new PC with next business day support we figured that we would get a replacement part the next day and be up and running.  We requested that HP send us out a power supply and we would replace it ourselves but they did not want to do that.  Instead they wanted to send out a replacement PC to us, which is fine, replace the PC or replace the part either way is fine.

That was last Thursday the the 23rd of September.  Today we got a call from HP letting us know that they are out of stock and it would be 7 to 10 days before we would get the replacement PC.  Unfortunately we cannot wait that long, we need the PC now since the users current PC has hardware issues that are preventing her from working, she is now using her personal laptop to get things done.  I called HP and spent 30 minutes on the phone trying to resolve this issue.  I asked to speak to a supervisor and at that point I was put on hold for 15 minutes, no hold music, no “please wait your call is important to us” or anything. I finally gave up and hung up.  I never could get an answer as to why HP is refusing to send out a replacement part.

At this point we have no choice but to return the PC and order a new one, which we are doing.  The next time a customer requests a quote for a PC I will look for other brands that are willing to stand behind their product and comply with the “Next Day Support” that they advertise.

I have used 1Password from Agile Web Solutions for a long time and it is by far the best password manager that I have ever used.  it is easy to use, integrates with your web browser and keeps all of my passwords as well as information for quickly filling out web forms and credit card data.  I have so many accounts and passwords that I would be lost without it.  Now for all of you Windows users you too can now get 1Password, albeit in the beta.  No matter beta or not the good news is that it is coming and now you too can have all of your passwords easily accessible.

Once locked the screen will lock the screen and I can lay down and read without having to turn my head or worse yet, try and read sideways.