January 2010
In this issue

■  Message from the COO
■  Spilled Coffee
■  Flying with Cell Phones
■  Missed Manners
■  Meet the Staff
 

Meet the Staff

Daniel Perry

When Daniel Perry's father purchased his first PC, a monochrome-screened 286, he didn't know it would be his son's stepping stone into the world of IT. Computers and technology have been Daniel's passion since he was eight years old.

Daniel continued his love for computers at Southern Polytechnic State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology with a minor in Spanish. Daniel worked in computer repair and sales for five years before joining Radical Support in April 2008 as a Technical Support Manager. His specialties are information security and network infrastructure.

Born in Anderson, South Carolina and raised in Lexington, Georgia, Daniel enjoys hiking, bowling, amateur radio and computer gaming. Daniel and his fiancée Bridgett are busy planning their upcoming wedding.

What would Daniel do if he won the lottery? He would build a comfortable house and invest the rest for retirement.

 

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.

- John Burroughs

Message from the COO

Happy 2010!

With the New Year upon us, it's a great time to take stock of all things new out there in the world of technology. In the world of desktops and laptops, the latest buzz is Windows 7.

Let me start by easing your upgrade anxiety - Windows 7 is a terrific operating system. It is perhaps, the best Microsoft has produced to date. We have been testing it and using it internally here at Radical Support since the late Beta stages. To a person, the Windows 7 experience has been fantastic. For me personally, the extended monitor support is great and I love the reduced load and shut down times of my laptop. Here are some of the key enhancements:

  • Utilization of document libraries for better file organization

  • Thumbnail previews which allow you to 'peek' at the minimized windows/applications you are running

  • The aforementioned graphics and display enhancements

  • Better battery life on laptops

  • Better performance than Windows Vista

  • Enhanced local search engine features and performance

Read more

Help! I've Spilled Coffee on my Laptop
reprinted with permission from the HP Small Business Center

It's late and you're struggling to stay awake at your desk, so you decide to make yourself a cup of coffee. A few more hours of work ahead and the coffee will perk you up. Then, oops, there it is, all over your laptop, ruining your evening. The coffee has drained into the machine. The damage could be irreparable.

And worse: you may actually be in danger of being electrocuted. Since data travels between the laptop's components via an electrical current, if any liquid comes into contact with the components while the power is on, it will short out the traces between the circuits. Everything can be affected - keyboard, motherboard, memory and processor.

So what should you do if the worst happens?

Read more

Flying with Cell Phones: 5 Myths
 reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center
 

 It's difficult to imagine a time when people looked forward to flying on a commercial airline. Yes, even when they were traveling on business.

But that was before airline deregulation, when seats still offered ample leg room, plane food was palatable (and free) and fellow passengers actually dressed up for trips.

INow all of that is gone, replaced with narrow seats, $7 sandwiches, lots of first-time fliers with loose-fitting clothing worn for the ease of getting past airport security, and soon, cell phones.

I know. Talk about adding insult to injury. The airborne cell phone hasn't become widespread yet, but that hasn't stopped people from speculating about the demise of having civilized conversation from an airplane. I'm not here to do that, mostly because airline travel was never civilized to begin with, at least for those of us who traveled after the 1970s.

Read more

Missed Manners
by Amanda C. Kooser
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Some tech junkies tend to neglect etiquette in the office. E-mail is still one of the leading culprits, but newer arrivals like BlackBerrys and wireless earpieces are causing their share of social snafus. "Technology should not be an opportunity to multitask conversations," says technology etiquette expert Laurie Puhn, president of Laurie Puhn Communications . "Anytime you're [doing that], it is rude and unacceptable."

The ability to instantly send and receive e-mails and messages on your BlackBerry, PDA or smartphone requires etiquette attention. Put that BlackBerry away during meetings to let others know you're giving your full attention to the proceedings. Cell phone related violations are a major source of complaints, whether it's ringers going off at inappropriate times, loud speaking voices or the inadvertent sharing of personal information with anyone in the vicinity. Just because your Bluetooth headset is unobtrusive doesn't mean you can interrupt someone you're speaking with to take a call. It's also polite to pull out your iPod headphones (both of them) when you're talking to a colleague.

Make a good impression by being more aware of your tech habits. The old standards of turning off your cell ringer and using proper sentences and salutations in e-mails still apply. Finally, don't hesitate to respectfully bring attention to others' tech etiquette violations. "Rudeness is on the rise because we're not realizing these behaviors are rude," says Puhn, bestselling author of Entrepreneurs can set an example with their own behavior and by discussing etiquette policies with their employees.

 

Just for Laughs

 
Radical Support
585 Colonial Park Dr., Suite 201, Roswell, GA 30075  *  770.542.0000
 sales@radicalsupport.com   *   www.radicalsupport.com