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  • 0

    Help your customers to give you the information you need

    A few weeks ago, before she was to leave for college, we discovered that our older daughter, Elise, needed a medical insurance card. I logged onto the Web site for Independence Blue Cross (IBC),...

    Posted by Calvin Sun | October 1, 2007, 5:43 AM PDT

  • 6

    Wiki your office's technical knowledge and reduce support calls

    Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to supporting your end users. Responsible teams will already be keeping some sort of knowledge base, but support pros should consider taking a page...

    Posted by William Jones | September 27, 2007, 9:45 PM PDT | Latest comment by rurick@...

  • 22

    My main gripe with Vista is...(pick one)

    This is a multiple choice article. A. Microsoft grossly understated their recommended hardware requirements. Over the years, we've all learned to look beyond the minimum system requirements to...

    Posted by Joe Rosberg | September 27, 2007, 11:53 AM PDT | Latest comment by mrtreverj@...

  • 11

    Don't forget to keep the helpdesk in the loop

    With all the new methods for communications that we have embraced in recent years I feel it is time to re-introduce the world to a method that has been working pretty well for a number of years....

    Posted by Jeff Dray | September 24, 2007, 2:40 PM PDT | Latest comment by Absolutely

  • 325

    Will Linux ever be a popular desktop product?

    Linux, although it’s highly touted as a more secure and reliable operating system, simply won’t work in my environment. I suppose I could consider Linux for my servers, but not for my...

    Posted by Joe Rosberg | September 24, 2007, 2:21 PM PDT | Latest comment by uksp

  • 3

    Using the "80-20 rule" to help set priorities

    In a previous blog, Joe Rosberg discussed the "importance vs. urgency" matrix, as explained by Steven Covey. Another useful tool for setting priorities is the "80-20" rule. I first learned about...

    Posted by Calvin Sun | September 24, 2007, 6:08 AM PDT | Latest comment by RknRlKid

  • 1

    Sometimes work is not the answer

    You may have wondered what I had been up to for the last couple of weeks, I have been taking my annual holiday, a couple of weeks away from work and all that it entails. We packed up and headed...

    Posted by Jeff Dray | September 22, 2007, 1:03 PM PDT

  • 4

    Lost while troubleshooting? Retrace your steps.

    Our topic today: the value of retracing your steps. Now illustrated with embarrassing anecdotes! Have you ever had one of those days? A day where you're not quite at the top of your game, and...

    Posted by William Jones | September 20, 2007, 10:20 PM PDT | Latest comment by conceptual

  • 0

    Setting priorities often involves triage

    Quite a few years ago, there was an engineer at our firm who would submit project work to my department, always claiming it was "number one" priority, and always evoking the name of the boss in...

    Posted by Joe Rosberg | September 20, 2007, 12:00 AM PDT

  • 41

    Do you leave your ATM card in the ATM?

      At least five times it's happened to me: I go to an automated teller machine (ATM) to get cash. I leave with the cash, but without my ATM card. Now, I'm not the kind of person who goes...

    Posted by Calvin Sun | September 17, 2007, 5:33 AM PDT | Latest comment by danegt

  • 2

    US-CERT Bulletins: A user training tool for the overworked helpdesk

    In offices that don't have technology staff members specializing in user training, it often falls to the helpdesk techs to make sure that people have the skills they need. This is a natural fit...

    Posted by William Jones | September 14, 2007, 1:13 PM PDT | Latest comment by Joe_R

  • 0

    Don't Band-Aid your problems

    Disease. Sickness. Illness. Few people like to discuss these things. I'm sorry to do so, but no other area comes close as far as an effective analogy. Suppose you had some really serious...

    Posted by Calvin Sun | September 10, 2007, 11:20 AM PDT

  • 7

    U-Who? What your colleague's flash drive might be hiding

    Last time, I provided some methods and motives for disabling Windows' AutoRun capability. That post was prompted by my recent exposure to a device which exploits that system feature: a U3-enabled...

    Posted by William Jones | September 7, 2007, 9:30 PM PDT | Latest comment by dcavanaugh

  • 7

    Don't let virus safeguards make you complacent

    If Rich Skrenta was like any other teenager in 1982, he had no idea that what he probably thought of as a harmless prank would be the first step in changing the entire computing world. His "prank"...

    Posted by Joe Rosberg | September 7, 2007, 5:38 AM PDT | Latest comment by Joe_R

  • 8

    Shrink-wrapped aggravation, part I

    The absence of shrink wrap nearly cost me $30. I didn't realize it at the time, and naturally became upset when I learned about it. Fortunately, though, I believe I will resolve the matter...

    Posted by Calvin Sun | September 4, 2007, 5:38 AM PDT | Latest comment by Joe_R

  • 12

    Stop the Windows AutoRun feature in its tracks

    Justin Fielding recently posted some instructions he found for disabling the USB mass storage features in Windows and Mac OS X. That information will be of most use in those environments that are...

    Posted by William Jones | August 29, 2007, 7:32 PM PDT | Latest comment by sandrok911@...

  • 62

    Should you build or buy your end users' PCs?

    Over the years, it's been an ongoing consideration to provide our end users with either custom built computers or brand name, off-the-shelf models. Up until about ten years ago, I worked with a...

    Posted by Joe Rosberg | August 27, 2007, 12:54 PM PDT | Latest comment by grosales@...

  • 3

    Lessons from a fire truck

    Recently I learned, from a fire truck, about a key truth in communications: namely, how two people can interpret a situation completely differently. I was driving to a meeting in Washington,...

    Posted by Calvin Sun | August 27, 2007, 4:24 AM PDT | Latest comment by Locrian_Lyric

  • 1

    Can you draw pictures on the phone?

    Let’s face it, if you can describe things in a way that the end user can comprehend, you can often get to the bottom of a problem without the need for a site visit. In my employment an avoided...

    Posted by Jeff Dray | August 27, 2007, 2:58 AM PDT

  • 1

    Revised CompTIA codes standardize error tracking

    This month the Computer Technology Industry Association, or CompTIA for short, has released an update to its 20-year-old set of Standard Error Codes, which can be used as shorthand to record the...

    Posted by William Jones | August 22, 2007, 5:54 AM PDT

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