Small Business Computing Staff

PCWorld: Stop Firesheep Hackers With This New (Free) Tool A free tool from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) protects small business laptops against eavesdropping by hackers using the Firesheep plugin for Firefox by ensuring all communication over open Wi-Fi networks uses the secure HTTPS protocol. “If the news of Firesheep–a simple Firefox extension that allows […]

Wired: Dell Inspiron Duo – Flip-Top Convertible Makes Mediocre Tablet In this first look from Wired magazine, reviewer Charlie Sorrel complains about the poor touchscreen interface and the inflated price ($550 + $100 for a docking station). “Dell’s Inspiron Duo is ready to buy. You may remember the clever flip-top netbook from its long gestation […]

PCWorld: iPad Update To iOS 4.2 Means Business Some of the improvements with iOS 4.2 on the iPad (released yesterday), such as the addition of multitasking and a unified e-mail inbox, improve the user experience. Others make it easier for IT administrators to manage, maintain, and protect the devices. “The iPad has been embraced as […]

Forbes: Should You Move Your Small Business Into The Cloud? Hewlett-Packard’s Philip McKinney offers five criteria to consider before moving to the cloud, including how fast your business is growing, where your employees are located, how reliable your system has to be and how important data security is. “The world is abuzz over cloud computing–using […]

PCWorld: Review – Asus Eee PC 1215N Netbook If the typical netbook doesn’t pack enough power for your employees and has a too-small screen, consider this Asus model. It comes with a dual-core processor and 12.1-inch screen. “The Asus Eee PC 1215N is a netbook that doesn’t look like a netbook. Like its predecessor, the […]

PCWorld: Six Hot Tablet Computers To Add To Your List All announced or launched in the past few months, these six tablets range from entertainment-oriented devices to all-business tabs like the HP Slate 500 and the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook. “When most people think of a tablet, they think of the pater familias of the current […]

Smallbiztechnology.com: Small Business Accounting – Beyond Quicken Smallbiztechnology.com takes a look at three new-ish small biz accounting programs: Outright.com, Indinero and Wave Accounting. All compete on simplicity, ease of use and lower price. “Last week I was speaking with the co-founder and president of Outright.com, Kevin Reeth, and he explained to me how easy Outright.com […]

ITBusinessEdge: Look-ahead – Security Concerns For 2011 Cosoi’s predictions? More platform-independent threats that attack Macs, Windows PCs and Linux machines equally, attacks on businesses at social media sites and malware targeting mobiles. “With Thanksgiving literally round the corner, the end of 2010 also draws inexorably closer. Before the holiday mood sets in too deeply – […]

Smallbiztechnology.com: How To Keep Customers Who Shop On Their Mobiles Smallbiztechnology talks to InstaMobile a company that provides online e-tailing services including selling to customers who shop from their smartphones. “As more and more users are accessing web sites from their smartphones, it’s very important for you to consider enabling your web site for mobile […]

Wired: Review – HP Envy 100 Multifunction Printer Color output on glossy photo paper is good, but the printer is slow and leaves marks on some paper, the reviewer says. It’s also slow, and many of the Web-based applications accessible from the built-in 3.5-inch LCD (eg. printing tic-tac-toe boards) are pointless. “The HP Envy 100 […]

Smallbiztechnology.com: Small Business Owners Need To Make Better Use Of Tech Scheduling client or customer appointments and cash management are just two examples of small business processes that should and can easily be automated, Smallbiztechnology.com says. It even has suggestions of tools you can use. “Many of the business owners I speak with are very, […]

PCWorld: How To Fix MS Office Annoyances Fast How to remove auto-correct entries that automatically change the characters you type to something you don’t want, how to restore Office 2003-style menus, how to update the Normal style and how to delete outdated email addresses from auto-complete lists: this short article shows you how to make […]