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Macro Connect News: MC Newsletter May 2008
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the first edition of Macro Connect's e-newsletter. We plan on using this venue to share technology news and information about us that we think could benefit you and your business. We also plan on highlighting partner organizations, clients, and projects using short, informative articles. Our goal is to provide relevant information that will help you manage your technology needs more efficiently.
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THIS ISSUE:
Macro Connect News
Tech Tips: Office 2007 Help
Cool Stuff: Networked backup drives
Client Spotlight: Midwest Analytical Services
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May 3, 2008: Macro Connect donated hardware and consulting services to the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival (http://www.greatlakeschambermusic.com/Scripts/home.asp) to be sold at auction. Our auction item drew over $1000 that will benefit Great Lakes Chamber Music events.
April 13, 2008: Macro Connect sponsored "Something Old, Something New", a concert put on by the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings (http://www.detroitchamberwinds.org). The concert featured a world premiere composition written by composer Matthew Tommasini.
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TECH TIPS: Office 2007 Help
Our Tech Tips feature provides quick hints to help you get the most of your technology
Office 2007 offers improved security, a lot of great new features, and a new user interface. Unfortunately, for those of us who have "grown up" with the previous versions of Office, sometimes it is maddeningly hard to figure out how to do certain things. Here are a few links to reference guides that help map the location of various functions between Office 2007 and older versions of the software.
Overview Article
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9010482Online Cheat Sheets for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011145One Page Cheat sheet
http://blogs.vertigosoftware.com/jatwood/archive/2006/07/28/Microsoft_Office_2007_Cheatsheet.aspx************************************************************************************************************************
COOL STUFF: Network Hard Drives
In our experience, the most common part to fail on a computer is the hard disk drive, which is the component that stores all of your data.
Over the course of a month, we replace at least a couple of hard drives for our clients. Frequently, we are able to use special tools to retrieve data from a failed hard drive, but sometimes data cannot be recovered without taking extraordinary measures (and spending a lot of money). The simple way to avoid this predicament is to backup your files on a regular basis. That leads us to our Cool Stuff topic, network hard drives.
At Macro Connect, we focus on providing technology solutions to small businesses, non-profits, and schools. In these environments, managing data backup and recovery is a mission critical task. While it probably isn't quite as important, the data on your computer at home likely includes family contacts, pictures, tax information, email, and all sorts of other stuff that you don't want to lose. This data needs to be backed up too.
For $200 to $300, products are now available that can be plugged directly into a router or switch on your home or small office network. By plugging the drive into the network, any connected computer can access the drive for sharing files or storing backup data. In addition, many of the devices include dedicated backup software and any of the devices could be used as a repository for backup jobs run by Windows XP or Vista, or for files that have been copied manually. If you aren't backing up your files, make sure you consider a solution like this soon. This is a great example of a situation where prevention is MUCH less painful than finding a cure.
Visit these links to checkout potential products:
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=278
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/linkstation/
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CLIENT SPOTLIGHT:Macro Connect is pleased to add Midwest Analytical Services to our list of clients. MAS is a privately owned environmental and analytical testing laboratory. MAS provides efficient and effective scientific planning to improve industrial processes. This complete problem-solving service is unique to MAS. They have been serving the Great Lakes Region in this way since 1987.
MAS specializes in providing emergency laboratory services. Based on your level of urgency, they can provide results in the required timeframe. Non-emergency laboratory services are also available in five to seven business days.
Midwest Analytical Services is located at 2905 Hilton Road in Ferndale and can be reached at (248) 591-6660.
Macro Connect is assisting MAS with maintaining and improving their existing technology infrastructure. Some of the projects we are working on include: network redesign, backup system implementation and report writing.
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