10 must-have business apps for Android tablets

Jack Wallen offers his list of must-have business-centric apps for Android tablets. As a platform, Android has been business-ready for quite some time. However, it's often difficult to find the right app to do the job. Considering how many apps are available in the Google Play Store, digging out the business-gems can be a long, involved process. With that in mind, I've developed a list of...

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Quick Tip: Excel 2013 offers flexible data labels

Data labels can display more than values now. Use them to display a message or even the result of a formula not in the chart's underlying data set. Excel 2013 offers more formatting and shape options for displaying data labels in a chart. It also supports a dynamic data label option. We'll explore those options and then put them to use.  How to add data labels First, you'll need...

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Five examples where bundled mobile apps are superior

Donovan Colbert offers four examples of how having vendor-supplied non-optional software can be beneficial. Help us complete the list. IT professionals, especially those in Camp Android, derisively refer to “bloatware” on their PCs and mobile devices. We can really trace this back to an early criticism among Linux fans against the practice of including lots of software...

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Data security: Stop chasing the rats, and protect the cheese

Vormetric CSO Sol Cates says legacy perimeter security was never designed to protect what attackers really want: your sensitive information. The data-centric approach can mitigate the threat of rogue insiders and malicious outsiders by putting layers of protection around the data themselves. Of 700 IT security decision-makers surveyed, only 27 percent indicated that their enterprises block privileged user access to sensitive data. This is a major finding...

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A first look at AbiWord 3

Marco Fioretti takes a look at AbiWord 3.0, an open source word processor. Find out why he believes you should give it a try as soon as you can. AbiWord is an open source word processor, whose version 3.0.0 was released in October 2013. After downloading and compiling it from source, I played with the program a bit to see what it looks like. ...

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Researchers break speed record for transmitting data using light bulbs

Specially designed light bulbs have enabled scientists in the UK to set a new data transmission record for Li-Fi. Researchers in the UK have used specialised light bulbs to transmit data at more than 10Gbps. The micro-LED bulbs are able to transmit 3.5Gbps via each of the red, green and blue colours that makes up white light. Various research teams worldwide are investigating ways to provide high-speed wireless internet connectivity using LED light...

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10 tech products that belong to the walking dead

Deathless, slow moving, yet relentless, the walking dead are among us in the form of scary, disintegrating tech bits that refuse to die. Here are 10 that need the double-tap.  Image: iStock/johnnorth  The zombie horde has nearly reached critical mass. Other than not...

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How to configure host SSD caching on ESXi

A recent feature in VMware ESXi allows you to use host SSD-caching as stopgap memory-management technique for memory-constrained servers. One of the more recent features that is available with ESXi in modern editions is the ability to leverage SSDs for caching. This can be a great cost-efficient stopgap for your memory-constrained servers. But, before we go too far, it is important to note this is a swap improvement feature, not a storage I/O feature. Don’t be confused by all of the...

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The business analyst: The project manager's best ally

Ken Hardin shares a tale from his days as a TechRepublic manager that illustrates why PMs need a direct channel to the business analyst. Almost all prescribed remedies to scope creep relate to change management after the business requirements for a project have been set. Project managers (PMs) are trained to try to police increases in the cost and time required for the...

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Fight scope creep with this change request trick

Ken Hardin identifies one weapon in the never-ending battle with crazy IT project scopes. Scope creep usually comes in second on a list of why IT projects fail, behind the dreaded IT/business alignment issues (which is a euphemism for senior management doesn't know what it's doing). You can take a swing at helping out on the alignment problem, but there are only so many reports...

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Create aliases on your WAMP server

A WAMP server is hard to beat if you're looking for a quick and easy way to create server aliases. If you've installed a Windows Apache MySQL PHP (WAMP) server, you most likely realized very quickly how much power is at your fingertips. Unlike its Internet Information Services (IIS) counterpart, Apache is not just about power, though, it's also about flexibility. With a WAMP server, one thing you can do easily is set up aliases on your server....

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Speed up your Android development cycle with Genymotion

William J. Francis shares how the free Android emulator called Genymotion greatly increases his productivity. I've been doing professional Android development for more than four years. At the risk of receiving a plethora of scathing emails and possibly having my Android developer card revoked, I also admit to dabbling in iOS. A big difference I noted right away when I started looking at the Xcode documentation is that during normal iOS development the application runs on...

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Recover from a dead RAID0 with Bootsect and DiskPart

Recovering from a dead hard drive in a RAID0 configuration may require a little old-fashioned command line knowledge. Quite recently, I was asked by a friend to repair his laptop. The owner of this particular laptop is sufficiently competent to overcome basic issues one would encounter in Windows, so by merit of my being called in, clearly something catastrophic had happened....

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Balance your big data analytics goals to enable breakthroughs

Enterprises need to balance the needs of their business cases with experimentation so they can get breakthrough answers to questions they had never thought to ask. I recently visited with Scott Gnau, President of Teradata Labs. Scott has a large staff of data scientists under his guidance, and we were talking about the challenges of big data analytics and getting maximum value out of big data. "Big...

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Finding the hidden value in the ADHD developer

has become a cultural punchline, not well-understood or considered; but those adults who carry it have traits that can work to IT's advantage. "You know you have ADD when you stop at an intersection and wait for the stop sign to turn green!" "You know you have ADD when you take an IQ test and end up covering it with doodles!" It's a cultural cliche now, and few understand it well, but ADD/ADHD is now part of our professional world. Since it was...

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Log Parser Studio provides a great interface to Microsoft Log Parser

Log Parser Studio simplifies using the features of the versatile Microsoft Log Parser. Here's a look at how to use the tools together. A recent call from a client revealed worrisome activity on their ecommerce site. The problem was ultimately traced to a vindictive former employee, but we spent quite a few hours investigating the situation, with the web server logs being the biggest help during this time (you can never have too many logs). These log files contain lots...

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10 quick steps to sharing Excel 2013 workbooks online

Whether you are collaborating with others or just need anywhere-access, these steps will allow you to share your Excel workbooks online. Excel 2013 users have several options for sharing Excel sheets online. You can save the file to the cloud, publish a link, share to several social media platforms, and send the file via email. While you've been able to save Excel files to the cloud for a while by sharing to Windows SkyDrive, the choice to share to Windows SkyDrive is now an interface option....

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Apple II's classic chip is reborn: This time as a Twitter-controlled processor

Part of the chip that powered the Apple II and the BBC Micro has been recreated and connected up to the internet so it can be controlled via Twitter. This hotchpotch of circuitry and mechanical parts is a snapshot of the chip that was at the heart of some of the most popular computers of the 1980s. Crunching data inside the Apple II, Commodore 64 and BBC Micro was the...

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Beat the technical interview! (Part 1)

Here's an article that makes the process of securing a software development job (which for us usually lands on the .NET/C# side of things) more fun by treating it like the “cheat codes” to a game in which you’re the protagonist preparing to go up against hiring managers. Editor’s note: Now for something completely different. Benjamin Weiss of www.infusivesolutions.com, reached out to colleagues...

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Quick Tip: Use Google's Search app on Windows 8

Google provides a dedicated Search application for Windows 8. Find out how it can help your Windows 8 experience. Wikipedia states that "60 million Windows 8 licenses have been sold" as far back as January of 2013. Furthermore, according to Alex Wilhelm of techcrunch.com, Windows 8 reached 8 percent market share in September of 2013. With these figures in mind, I've been doing...

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How to Get More Traffic to Your Blog and Keep It There

It happens to the best of us — eventually. At some point, each and every blogger faces the same issue. It’s the bane of our existence and the great quandary causing us to scratch our heads. Photo credit: epSos.de (Creative Commons) The blog traffic jam. That sudden halt of visitors to your site that has you wondering, “What did I do wrong?”...

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Private vs. public cloud: Why the supposed debate is really no debate at all

Hybrid cloud solutions are popular for organizations who want cloud benefits but want to retain some control. Here's one perspective that argues that the public cloud is the way to go. By Kris Bliesner The pundits would have you believe there is a popular debate and a difficult decision among IT architects - whether to go with a private cloud deployment, public cloud...

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The big data challenge: Extracting actual business value

You've got the tools and the power of the cloud to capture big data, but figuring out what you want from it and how to extract it is the final, crucial challenge. Advances in data networks and storage mean organizations capture far more data than they ever have - perhaps a stream of measurements from manufacturing equipment, from vehicles, or from game-changers like web-enabled refrigerators (no,...

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10 great cloud opportunities for SMBs

These cloud solutions are well-suited to the SMB with a limited budget. Cloud-based applications can fill critical needs for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). With the help of the cloud, SMBs can not only level the competitive playing field with larger companies, but they can also afford important business applications that they wouldn’t be able to support internally. Here are ten great...

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10 IaaS providers who provide free cloud resources

Sample these ten tasty IaaS treats for free. If you're still new to cloud technology, but interested in seeing what it's all about, there's no better way to learn than taking some of the cloud services for a spin. Fortunately, you can get a pretty good demo for free before you go all-in. Sample these ten tasty IaaS treats for free. You give these cloud providers some details and they give you free ...

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What happens when your cloud provider goes out of business?

Going with cloud providers doesn't mean you can forget about disaster planning. What if they go out of business, taking your server capacity and data with them?    There is no doubt that cloud computing is one of the greatest advances in IT on recent years. Regardless of the fears and uncertainty that many companies experience before moving to the cloud, the benefits that are realized once the move is made are simply too large...

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Infographic: Encryption crackability

What are the recommended RSA key sizes for protecting data? Here's a chart with estimations of how long it would take to break encryption methods. The oft-repeated concern about adopting cloud services is the security and privacy of the data that you trust to cloud providers. Along with this are the questions that must be answered related to compliance and jurisdiction. This infographic about encryption keys and their relative strength is provided by CipherCloud, a company that has set its...

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How cloud computing will impact the on-premise data center

The future of the typical in-house data center is murky due to the advent of cloud computing. Here are some possibilities that might lie ahead. TechRepublic ran an article in April of 2013 titled, “Cloud computing and the evolution of the data center.” The article, written by Thoran Rodrigues, looked at how data centers are tied to the cloud computing era, approaching the topic from the standpoint...

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Avoid the looming shadow of the Data Warehouse

Avoid internal competition and clandestine sabotage by blending your analytic teams instead of separating them.  If you're not careful, your data science team could be rapidly snuffed out by a very unlikely threat. You've acted on your vision to bring your organization to a new level by infusing the best analytic talent, and you've secured a promising team of talented data scientists and analytic managers (and possibly one very talented...

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Create encrypted archives with BCArchive

Don't neglect securing your archives. Learn how BCArchive, a secure archiving tool for Windows, can help your small business.  Most modern operating systems have the built-in ability to create archives (.zip, .tar, .gz, etc.). With some of these tools, you can even create a security password to protect the archive from prying eyes. But for small businesses looking for more security in their archives in order to keep sensitive data from prying eyes, the built-in tools don't always cut it. That's when you need a product such as B...

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10 best features of Ubuntu 13.10

Jack Wallen lists the 10 features that make Saucy Salamander a more polished Ubuntu distribution.  Ubuntu 13.10 (aka Saucy Salamander) is about to hit the streets, but not without much controversy and drama following behind in its wake. In fact, never before has their been a distribution release so mired in upset. Beginning with the choice to move away from the Wayland X server to a Ubuntu-specific Mir server to the inclusion of Smart...

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A look at OS X Mavericks

Apple's desktop operating system, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, was released on October 22, 2013. Take a look at some of the things you can expect to see in this new Mac OS.  Apple released its new OS X 10.9 operating system, known as Mavericks, on October 22, 2013, surprising most industry observers and customers alike by announcing the new platform is free. The 10th major OS X release, Mavericks includes Finder enhancements, better battery performance,...

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Three simple steps to providing better customer support

Providing customer support is not a piece of cake. It requires patience along with good communication and people skills to run an efficient support business.  By Jonny Pean  Beth Van Trees We all know that we can't perform solely on our own forever; we need help from others from time to time. This fact holds the greatest significance today when technology has pervaded to each and every part of our existence. Today anywhere and everywhere...

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Five Apps: Build a better resume

There's no way around it, if you're in the business of working for a living long enough, you're going to need a resume.  At some point in time, you are going to need to create (or re-create) your resume. For some, it's not a big deal; you either open up the old file or create a new version, based on your old tried and true standard. For others, however, the very thought of creating a resume is enough to send them into apoplectic fits. Where...

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Log Parser Studio provides a great interface to Microsoft Log Parser

Log Parser Studio simplifies using the features of the versatile Microsoft Log Parser. Here's a look at how to use the tools together.  A recent call from a client revealed worrisome activity on their ecommerce site. The problem was ultimately traced to a vindictive former employee, but we spent quite a few hours investigating the situation, with the web server logs being the biggest help during this time (you can never have too many logs). These log files contain lots of valuable information, but combing through them can be mind-numbing....

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Use HTTPS certificate handling to protect your iOS app

Handle certificates in your iOS app to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks on your app and on your server.  Any app that connects over the Internet to a hosted service must have a security policy in place. The security policy will depend primarily on the sensitivity of the data being transferred between the app and the server. However, even if the app doesn't transfer sensitive customer information, it should protect itself from attack. Even the least harmful attack will ruin the user's experience and the app's reputation....

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The success of Linux doesn't rely on Microsoft's garbage

Find out why I don't think Linux should be installed on old, unsupported Windows XP machines.  With Windows XP about to finally meet its demise, many users are espousing its replacement with Linux. It makes perfect sense, because there will be millions of machines out there that are no longer supported by Microsoft. Those millions of machines can either add to our already insurmountable garbage problem, or they can continue to be used,...

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How Windows 8 Hybrid Shutdown / Fast Boot feature works

Sleep, hibernate, fast boot, and hybrid shutdown are not all the same thing in Windows 8. Greg Shultz explains how it all works.  A friend of mine recently got a new Windows 8 system and after using it for a couple of weeks sent me a list of questions that she had about some of the features in the new operating system. She also had quite a lengthy list of questions about features that she had been used to using in previous versions of Windows,...

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iOS 7.0.3 update released for iPhone and iPad

Summary: Apple releases iOS 7.0.3 for the iPhone and iPad, an update that brings with it numerous bug fixes and improvements to the recently-released iOS 7. It's has been a busy day for Apple....

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Six lines your boss should never cross

A list of six ways you can tell if your boss has crossed the line of professional behavior.  The employment experts at Allison & Taylor have offered some great tips for knowing whether your boss has crossed the line of professional behavior.  According to Allison & Taylor, your boss is crossing the line if he or she: 1. Makes references to your salary in front of other staff. This is private and confidential information, not public knowledge. Other employees don't need to know what you're being paid, and...

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Why tech innovation is essential for future economic growth

Automation might mean job losses in the short term but longer term the impact of technology can be much more positive, if we let it.  The Luddite protests against machinery in the early nineteenth century are often characterised as a movement which was against machines replacing people wholesale; whereas in fact the primary concern of the early protesters was that new wide-framed automated looms could be operated by cheaper, less skilled workers, with skilled textile workers losing their jobs. As such the dispute was as much about...

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