The View From Here

Tech tips that you can use

Archive for March, 2009

Email Netiquette

Mar 24

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

Have you ever received an email that is the culmination of a dozen previous forwards? So you spend what feels like hours opening up individual attachments to get to the actual email to find a joke that you’ve heard before. Or, you have to scroll down about a ½ mile in order get past all the previous forwards.

If so, the person who sent it to you has made a breach of netiquette. Just like social etiquette, netiquette are those rules one is expected when engaging in online activity. Consider these rules when sending an email.

  1. Clean up the email before forwarding it along: Delete out all the previous forwarding addresses. Your recipients will thank you. Your mail might even get read!
  2. Forwarding emails as attachments is an act of evil: You could be sending out the meaning of life, but if the reader has to dig down through 10 attachments to get to it, nobody will ever read it.
  3. Verify before hitting “SEND”: Verify not only the addresses of the recipients, but the content of the email. This includes spell-checking, as well as fact-checking. Are cell phone numbers really going public? Did Microsoft really buy the Catholic Church? A simple Google search will verify or discredit the information.
  4. Know the recipients: Will the recipients find the email interesting or be offended by it? Are they on a dial-up connection and likely have trouble receiving the massive video clip you’re sending? Just like giving a good speech: Know your audience.
  5. Emails are not like cell phone texts: It is quite appropriate to spell everything out in an email. You are not charged for how many words you put into an email, so there is no need to skimp on words in place of acronyms and proper grammar. As far as I’m concerned
  6. Make appropriate use of capital letters: TYPING LIKE THIS IS EQUAL TO SHOUTING AT THE RECIPIENT. Just don’t do it, unless you are going for emphasis or really need to vent.
  7. “Reply to all” is to be avoided: This is really a sub-set of Rule #4. I recently was privy to a conversation among a client and their HR department. What started off as a conversation regarding their internet connection changed topics. The client continued to use “reply to all” when discussing salaries. I did not have any need to know this and it just took up space in my inbox.
  8. Work email is not private: As an employee, you are borrowing an email address from the company in order to do your job. The company owns that address, not you. As such anything you send can be reviewed for appropriateness.
  9. The “Enter” key is your friend: Break up long paragraphs with a space. If the topic requires you to go indepth, do your reader a favor and break up the text. As a corollary: Cut to the chase. Keep it short and to the point.
  10. Do not use Read/Delivery Receipts: Their software might not support receipts and is more likely to annoy the recipient. If you are concerned if somebody read your email, request a reply within the body of the email. Something along the lines of “Let me know what you think” is much more effective than asking the person to confirm that the email has been received. Plus, you end up with a bunch of useless receipts sitting in your inbox.


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Anybody got a band-aid?

Mar 17

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

Folks, I’ve got to tell you. I am cursed. The ancient curse of “May you live in interesting times.” Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to spend some quality time at the Johnson County Memorial Hospital as well as Sheridan Memorial. No need to go into details as to why, but I will say that everyone is on the mend.

Even in the midst of all the craziness there was a very, very small part of my brain that was taking tech notes. My take-away impression is that if you are going to get sick or injured there isn’t a better time in the entire history of the human race to do so.

When I was quite younger, I broke my wrist jumping off a swing. Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I remember going to the ER, having them take the X-ray, wait while the film was developed, then printed, then put up on the big lighted board to examined. Suppose the doc doesn’t like what they see and want a consult? Take the image, put it in an envelope, transport it to whomever specialist and they read it.

No longer. Now, they take the x-ray and within about 2 minutes, the image comes up on the screen for the ER doc to look at. If (s)he doesn’t like what is seen, they fire it off more-or-less in an email format to the specialist who can make a judgment. That whole process takes from taking the image to firing it off to a specialist takes less time than it did to just get the old-school print out.

Lets suppose that in the midst of our transfer from Buffalo to Sheridan that there were critical allergy issues to be considered when deciding on medication. (there wasn’t but this is for sake of argument). Or that Sheridan wanted to know what meds were given while in Buffalo.

Old-school options: make copies of records. Fax to Sheridan or send along with patient. Or call and provide information over the phone. Yeah, great. You’ll have an easier time reading a doc’s handwriting than a smudged fax or copy. Let alone verifying that the information the person wrote down at the other end of the line is correct.

New-school: send all data securely, electronically. No smudges, no miscommunications. Also send laser-printed copies with patient.

I’ve heard the saying “Speed Kills.” Not so in a medical environment, when it comes to information, Speed Saves. Yes, there are a lot of issues to be sorted out with insurance and all the other stuff, but the actual technology that facilitates treatment and care is outstanding and it is only going to improve. From my point of view, this is a great era in which to be sick or hurt.


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Baby it’s cold outside..

Mar 10

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

As I sit and look out at at the snowy streets and the flakes continuing to come down, I think this week’s post will be about the weather. No, I don’t have a handy gadget the size of a cell phone to miraculously change the weather. Heh, would certainly be handy if I did.

We’re all fascinated with something we can’t change. Stick with me here, I’m still talking about the weather, not your spouse. There is a ton of software and hardware out there to give you the latest weather reports. Some are absurdly simple. Others are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Let’s take a stroll through some of these.

First: The absurdly simple. Can’t make it any more basic than that. It is cross-platform compatible and doesn’t care if you’re using a mac, windows, or linux.

Hee hee, I had to throw that in.

Software:

CAVEATS: For these applications there are some things you’ll want to bear in mind. First, any time you are online they are going to be updating themselves. Which means if you are on a slower connection, your general browsing is going to be a little slower. They don’t use a lot of bandwidth, but if you’re on a dial up connection every little bit is noticeable. Second, unless specified, they will start when the computer boots up. This will increase the amount of time it takes for your computer to load. Third, since they are constantly running they will use up some system resources. Depending on your system it might not be noticeable or it might be enough to cause lockups. With all those warnings in place, sally forth.

Weatherbug: This is one of two of the more common applications out there. Once downloaded and installed, you have a little black & white ladybug type of icon in the taskbar (that’s the area on your computer next to the time. Usually on the bottom, right corner.) If you have your volume turned on, it will chirp with severe weather alerts. When online, the icon will change to show the current temperature.

Weather Channel: Works pretty much the same way as weatherbug. Download it, install it and you’ll get live updates on changing weather patterns specific to the zip code that you put in during the setup process.

Forecastfox: This is not a piece of software that runs on its own. It is a plugin for the Firefox Internet browser. This is, by far, my preferred means of getting weather forecasts. When you open up Firefox to browse the web, at the bottom of the screen you have the 5 day forecast as well as the current conditions and regional radar image. Powered by accuweather, it will also provide a link in the event of  a National Weather Service alert. When I close down Firefox, it will also shut down. It does not start up with the computer and only runs when I have Firefox open.

Hardware:

Folks, this is the cool stuff. Some little ladybug icon chirping at me with a warning doesn’t really turn my engine over.

Basic weather station: Runs on a couple of batteries with a remote sensor for measuring the outdoor temperature. Almost as basic as the weather rock. These are available pretty much anywhere. LL Bean has one for $15.  Or, if you don’t care about having the LL Bean logo, you can pick one up from amazon for $10.

Intermediate: Now we’re getting into more of the fun stuff. Indoor and outdoor temperature readings are fine. This is the 21st century. I want more information. Hence, the price jumps quickly. Starting at around $100 the full weather station will not just provide the outdoor temp but has an anemometer. (fyi: anemometer measures wind speed). Alrighty, now we’re getting somewhere. Sure the outside temp is 30 degrees. But if I see the trees shaking and the flags straight out like a freshly starched sheet it is going to feel a lot colder than 30.  National Geographic offers a kit for $99 that measures temp, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind chill, rainfall and can even change the oil in your car. Yeah, I tagged on the last bit, but you get the point.  The prices continue to climb. Some offer multiple outdoor sensors so you can figure out the difference in temp between the north and south side of your house.

Advanced: These are the big guns. You can spend anywhere from $350 to $4,000+ . Crikey! What’s so special about these? Well, not only can you plug them into your computer or home/office network but they can be configured so that you can access the information online. Yep, find out what the windchill is at your house while sitting on a beach somewhere sipping a beverage with a little pink umbrella in it. Ambientweather.com has a nice selection from which to choose.

The clouds seem to be breaking up and the sun is making it’s presence known. The view from here shows a sidewalk that needs to be cleaned up. Until next time, stay warm.


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Cool Stuff

Mar 4

Posted by admin in Uncategorized

Lets face it. There’s a lot of stuff out there that you hear of or you see advertised and your first thought is “That’s pretty cool.”

And it’s true. There is a lot of gadgets and so forth that is pretty darn cool that you don’t have to be technically inclined in order to appreciate.

There are also some things out there that make an interesting gag gift, but don’t go much beyond that.In this instance, I’m thinking of this: the Solar Powered Ventilated Hat

Lets leave that behind us and delve into some of the good stuff.

First, is the standard framed picture not good enough for you? How about one that changes the pictures for you? A must have for those with multiple kids or grandkids. Nobody need feel left out now. Geeks.com has them for $27 however a quick google search shows them ranging from $78+

Portable Cell Phone Jammer: No need to explain. I’m surprised this little gem isn’t flying off the shelves. Darn sure I’d bring it with me to the movies.

Alright, this one isn’t so much cool as it cracked me up looking at it. It just wouldn’t do to have little snookums getting her freshly clipped hair wet.

Jeez, I do hate playing the cord game. You know the game: trying to get everything plugged in to charge up. If this works as advertised, this definitely ranks high up on the Cool Meter.

Lastly, we’re going old school here. (Ok, it’s relatively old school). Everybody can appreciate a Leatherman multi-tool. They’re just so darn handy for everything from over-tight bottles

Got a gadget or something cool you think needs to be shared or just want to go for bragging rights? Drop a comment or fire an email to theviewfromhere@fiberpipe.net


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