BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION RESOURCES
CELLULAR Phone Service
(not up to date)
Coping with COMPUSERVE CLASSIC (and WebMail)
EMAIL BEHAVIOUR for effective communication
Using ATTACHMENTS to EMAIL Messages
SCANNERS for home & small office.
How many sales are lost in the long term because potential new customers hear their friend's horror stories?
(Persons interested in sofware quality and user interface design should read these notes.)
Review of the Planon "pen" scanner
PDA: A Worthwhile Tool for You? or specific tips for Palm especially 5xx series
E-MAIL & Small-Computer SECURITY
BE PATIENT WITH PDF
Recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer may appear to load .PDF files as blank pages.
Wait a minute, as it takes time to uncompress a PDF file for display - MSIE's status bar may not include that step.
Help with strange characters in unusable URLs
Challenges using USB ports and external memory devices.
Windows Vista
In upgrading, you may have to budget for new peripherals. For example, Panasonic are not supporting my nice little voice recorder, only two years old! Not the first time Panasonic has disappointed me by not supporting its otherwise good product. For scanners, I know that HP are not supporting the 63xx series but are supporting the 8250C. So you have an excuse to buy a new computer and keep the old one in the corner not connected to any network, thus not a security risk real-time, running Windows XP to keep using unique peripherals and application software that you don't use every day. Just watch out for the blind bean counters.
But....to check if your hardware can be accommodated by Vista:
> look on Microsoft's web site for the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool for networks
> Windows Vista Hardware Compatibility List
BE PATIENT WITH CANADA POST?
(They have explained the apparent descrepancy in envelope height limit for normal postage rate within Canada and to the US, though a trap remains.)
THE SHOW WENT ON.... (MacIntosh, Networking, Presentations Technology)
(While he rearranges his site you'll have to dig for his Mt. Everest/toe story.)
For an Internet web site Search Engine I like Google. It uses popularity as a criteria, which usually works better for general searches but not for finding an organization's own web site. Google is simple with a clean screen.
Is structure the answer to a growing company's administrative challenges?
What are the alternatives? Why did one company's try at empowering employees fail? Ask Keith
An Example of Buzz-Speak/Obfuscation (probably achieved without even trying)
CURRENT TIME in USA (adjust zone for your location; usable for most of Canada if you know your time zone, but definitely not Newfoundland (they are different - proudly so :-).
Note the amount of daylight vs darkness in northern Canada in the summer and winter.
or this more versatile one for GMT/UTC and many cities around the world (for Newfoundland choose St. John's, not to be confused with St.John NB which is in a regular time zone).
Multi-tasking is less efficient? (One thing at a time saves time...., William Hathaway, Seattle Times, August 7, 2001)
IS YOUR HR DEPARTMENT HUMAN? (a tale of inappropriate behaviour)
WHO HIRED THIS CONTROL FREAK?Another tale of misguided behaviour.
How do you as an executive or manager prevent such behaviour and deal with administrative needs on cost effective basis? Contact Keith. He or allied friends can help, perhaps for a fee, perhaps as an employee.
How to invest?
Advice from the very successful funds manager Wayne Deans' includes evaluation of the company's management, including the CEO: ".....the single most important question is whether we trust him."
and...
Why did they buy WorldCom....? It was all quite obvious what was going on, if you did your due diligence. So people got what they deserve...."
- reference Business Edge newspaper of March 18, 2004.
Management
No one can dispute that J. Paul Getty was successful in business. Less known are his criteria for good managers: no politics, speak up if things aren't right, treat people decently. (I hope to add references to articles.)
MAKING IT WORK (a tale of an unsung hero who made a great discovery usable)
Changing links: Articles formerly on http://www.tcp.ca or http://www.canadacomputers.com may now be on http://www.HUBCanada.com. The Seattle Times now requires registration to read its excellent archives.
© Keith Sketchley Page version 2008.04.28 (0847PDT)
Please advise Keith if any links don't work or have become inappropriate - the Internet changes.)