Check out Our New Blog Site for All New Weekly Posts

In an effort to have better controls over topic groups, a faster interface and a more modern look, we have moved to a new blog site. Our new site utilizes the speed and features that are native to the publishing platform Ghost.

All posts before 2019 are best viewed here on Blogger. All posts from 2019 or later are best viewed on our new blog site. All blogs can also be accessed on our technology index page, which is organized by more than 10 different categories and can be searched by any topic. This index also includes links to videos that have been made to accompany our posts. 

You can also subscribe to our weekly blog posts by entering your email after clicking the Subscribe button from any page on our new site.

As always, thank you for reading our posts!

Scanning to Email versus Scanning to a Folder

Multi-function printers typically include scanning capability and provide many more features than a simple printer. One of the most time-saving features of a multi-function printer is the ability to scan to email and scan to a folder on a computer on the same network. These scan functions operate much the same way, yet have distinct differences. It is important to understand these differences when deciding which option is better for your unique environment. It is also possible that you will use both ways under different circumstances.

This post covers the main differences between scanning to email versus scanning to a folder on a computer on the same network as the printer.

Scanning to Email versus Scanning to a Folder

First, it is important to note the exact steps required for configuring either type of scanning varies slightly by printer manufacturers and printer models. However, the underlying functionality and requirements for each type of scanning are essentially the same. Second, the best way to find the exact steps to follow for either type of scanning is to visit the website for the printer manufacturer, go to their support or drivers page, type in the exact model of printer and follow the steps in their documentation. Lastly, the steps below help illustrate what it takes for both functions, how they differ and what needs they best meet.

Security Round Up: Amazon, Facebook & Ransomware

If you are interested or looking for them you can find near daily news articles discussing some form of risk to the security of our private data. This can come in many forms including, but not limited to:

• Company data breaches
• Ransomware attacks
• Phishing schemes
• Malware
• Companies storing files in plain text
• Servers that did not receive critical updates
• Social engineering and more

The point of this list is to show all the ways we need to be vigilant. While we do not want to waste all our time worrying about our data, the more present we are while online and the more cautious we are when sharing information, the better protected we will be. There will always be examples of issues out of our hands, for instance when a company gets hacked, but if we protect ourselves by not reusing user id's and passwords we can control how badly we are affected.

How to Share an App Link with Someone to Download

Downloading new apps because of a feature you need or because someone mentioned one that piqued your interest is a common occurrence for most people. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to be sure the app listed in search results is indeed the app you intended to get. This becomes increasingly complicated when the app is named something slightly different than the company name or if the company has multiple apps with similar names.

Luckily, there is a way to share a link to download an app with someone so they can get the correct app every time. 

How to Share an App Link with Someone to Download

If you would like to share an app with someone and want to ensure they download the correct app, the best way is to send them a link to download the exact app. This can be especially helpful when providing tech support, or when the person downloading the app does not consider themselves tech savvy.

To share an iOS app

• Open the App Store.
• Search for the app you intend to share.
  

How to Manage Links Created in Acrobat: Zoom, Docs & More

Adobe pdf files are a great way to share documents because anyone can download Reader for free which allows them to open pdf files. There are additional benefits, as covered in our post "The Best App for Merging and Modifying Files". This post covers some of the specific settings you can control when creating a link in an Acrobat document.

Hyperlinks are simply text that has been programmed to link to another place. The link can be to a website, like the one used above, to another place inside the same document, or even to open an additional file. Depending upon where the hyperlink points to, the customizations available vary. This post covers some of these customizations, how they work and how you can control what they do.

How to Manage Links Created in Acrobat: Zoom, Docs & More

Different types of links provide different customizations. Zoom control is allowed for links that redirect to another location within the same document. The zoom feature allows you to change the focus of the destination page, showing more data than the rest of the document by zooming out, or focusing on important detail by zooming in. Links can also point to external documents which is useful for organizations housing shared documents. Lastly, hyperlinks can point to external locations such as websites for additional information.

To create a link in Acrobat:

• Highlight the text to link.
• Right-click the highlighted text and select "Create Link".
  

How Formulas Help Excel do the Calculations for You

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that can be used to process simple computations as well as advanced functions. Most people can use Excel for basic calculations like:

• Sum - adds the numbers in the cells in a selected range
• Average - finds the average of the numbers in cells in a selected range
• Count - counts the number of cells in a selected range with numbers in them
• Countif - counts the number of cells in a selected range that meet the criteria you set

There are hundreds of formulas in Excel, but creating simple functions to start with does not take long and is fairly simple. To show how versatile some simple formulas are, consider how they can be used to track:

• Attendance and absences for a group
• Average spending or income
• Supplies for a business or event
• Inventory for insurance or a business

These are a few examples of how Excel formulas can be useful by automatically processing repetitive calculations. 

How to Add Standard & Custom Watermarks to Documents

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

Most people have seen a document with a watermark. Confidential, Draft and Do Not Copy are commonly used watermarks. The purpose of a watermark is to visually alert the reader of a particular status related to this document. Attaching text like confidential or draft into the background of the document ensures the mark stays with the document even if copies are made. By contrast, having this information in an email or on the outside of an envelope does not protect the documents inside once they are removed from the email or envelope.

Another benefit of watermarks is that they can be added quickly and cause minimal distraction to the document context.

How to Add Standard & Custom Watermarks to Documents

There are two main types of watermarks to add to documents:  standard and custom. Custom watermarks allow you to use an image as the watermark as well as customizing the format of standard watermarks.

Adding standard watermarks

Standard watermarks consist of the following text choices:

• Confidential
• Do not Copy
• Draft
• Sample
• ASAP
• Urgent

It's Consumer Protection Week - Here's 4 Ways to be Safer Online

This week is National Consumer Protection week and as while there are many threats to our user data and personal information, there are also a multitude of ways we can protect ourselves. Some examples of best practices are:

• Using a credit card rather than debit card - this prevents you from needing to enter a pin in public where people can visually capture your input.
• Using Apple or Google Pay - these applications store your credit card so you do not need to physically access the card to use it.
• Using a unique PIN for debit cards - not reusing this pin for unlocking cell phones or as voicemail codes, etc.
• Never sharing passwords, account access, and credit or debit cards with others.

There are other, more advanced threats to the security of your devices. It is important to be aware of them as this increases your ability to protect yourself from them. 

It's Consumer Protection Week - Here's 4 Ways to be Safer Online

There are far more than four approaches to staying safe in an online environment, but these ideas can be implemented immediately. Most importantly, remember to slow down when you are feeling pressured. Hackers often use scare tactics to appeal to your emotional, and less rational, feelings to get you to act without thinking. If you stop and think about what is going on before reacting, you will be less likely to make a big mistake.

Reduce the amount you rely upon search

The Best App for Merging and Modifying Files

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

When working with larger files there can be a need to modify the order of pages, add signatures, or scan and add in additional documents for reference. During this process, you may run into issues like:

• Multiple file uploads not being allowed.
• A long document that requires a signature or signatures on only a few pages. In this case, printing the entire document and scanning it all back in together can be wasteful. 
• Scanning a document that is larger than the automatic document feeder of the scanner and breaks the files into multiple files.

An example most of us have run into is needing to sign a large document and send it back to someone else. You can print and mail the document, but it is far faster to email or fax it back. The best answer is to use Acrobat to print only the signature page, merge this single page into the original document and replace the blank signature page. Then the file can be emailed or faxed and the process does not have any waste.

For situations where you need to merge and modify files, the best application is Adobe Acrobat.

The Best App for Merging and Modifying Files

Adobe Acrobat has one-click tools that make it easy to insert additional documents into a single document, remove unnecessary pages, and reorder pages. These tools are especially important when working with very large documents, documents with pages that need to be signed, documents where only certain pages are updated, and when scanning in multiple documents. 

Merging documents

How to Ensure a Microsoft O365 License is Available to Reuse Immediately

If you have more than one license in a Microsoft Office 365 or O365 account, you know managing the licenses can sometimes be tricky. The bigger your organization, the greater the number of licenses and the easier it can be to run into issues. There are many benefits to subscribing to O365 licenses though, including the ability to reassign licenses. This is beneficial when an employee leaves as their access to the license can be removed and used for the person replacing them. This helps prevent businesses from wasting money on additional licenses.

However, it is important to know the correct way to reassign a license. There is a way to do this that allows the license to be reused immediately, while another way holds onto the license for 30 days before it can be assigned to another user. For those businesses whose number of licenses equals or nominally exceeds their number of employees, it will be critical to remove the user in the correct way so the license is available immediately.

How to Ensure a Microsoft O365 License is Available to Reuse Immediately

The way to ensure a license is immediately available for reuse is by removing the licenses from the user before removing the user. To remove a license from a former employee so that it is immediately available for reuse, follow these steps:

• Log into the Microsoft O365 admin portal at portal.microsoft.com.
• From the Admin dashboard, click on "Active users".
  

How to Make iPhone Contacts Accessible on a Windows Device

Backing up a smart phone to a computer or laptop does not mean the data is stored in a usable format. For instance, backing up an iPhone does not mean you can go directly to the apps, images, calendar or other items easily. Some things sync with iTunes, but most things are not directly accessible from a backup and there are times when you may want some of this data without being on the same device as the backups. 

For instance, having contact or calendar information synced to a local device can be more efficient than referencing your phone every time. Luckily, there is an easy way to sync data, like contacts, making it accessible without installing iTunes or backing up the device to that machine.

How to Make iPhone Contacts Accessible on a Windows Device

To access contacts on your iPhone from a Windows device:

• First, visit the page to download iCloud for Windows on the Windows device. 
• Under the heading "Download iCloud for Windows", click the "Download" button to start the installer.
• Click "Run" to run the installer.
  
  
  

How to Take Square Payments Without Creating User Logins

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

As a payment processing service for small businesses, Square is easy to set up and easy to use. There are many benefits to using Square over accepting credit card payments directly, including:

• Transparent service fees for all types of payments collected
• Managing PCI compliance
• Zero monthly and minimum fees, which is especially helpful for new businesses or those who do not need to use the service every month
• An online presence for the items or services you sell

Another great feature is the ability to send invitations to people to connect additional devices using the Square application. By using an invitation from you, that device can accept payments on behalf of your organization. Additionally, this is done without making them an employee, or creating additional user accounts or credentials. This feature is a secure way for any business, non-profit, or other organization to host events, have remote workers, interns or volunteers, collect funds on behalf of their business. Most importantly is it accomplished all without providing unnecessary account access.

How to Take Square Payments Without Creating User Logins

Another great benefit of inviting a device to accept payments on behalf of your account is that it can be done at no additional cost to you and the setup can be accomplished within a few minutes. Below are instructions for sending an invitation to someone with a device, as well as how to accept that invitation on a device.

Security Round Up: Email, Voicemail and Paycheck Phishing

We are barely a month into 2019 but attacks on our data are as prevalent as ever. Threats can come in many forms, including but not limited to:

• Company data breaches (which you have no control over)
• Hacked user accounts often stemming from weak or commonly used passwords (which we can control)
• Phishing attacks via email, phone calls and more
• Email attacks
• Malware embedded images
• Unsecured wireless networks
• Unencrypted online forms
• Man-in-the-middle attacks

This post covers what we need to know and what we can do to protect our data in relation to some of the most recent threats.

Ways to Customize a Computer's Display to Reduce Eye Strain

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

There are many reasons why we are on our computers and laptops for extended periods of time each day. It might be from our job, a hobby, or just to stay connected to others. Whatever the reason, we know the blue light emitted from monitors, displays and smart phones can be hard on our eyes. This is especially true when sitting for a long time which can cause eye irritation. 

Luckily, there are built-in settings in on both Windows and Mac devices whose purpose is to protect your eyes from extended exposure to blue light. 

Ways to Customize a Computer's Display to Reduce Eye Strain

On Mac devices

On a Mac device, use the Night Shift setting to reduce the level of blue light by using warmer colors. To use Night Shift:

• Open "System Preferences".
• In the System Preferences window, select "Displays".
  

How to Use Microsoft Word as a Free PDF Editor

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

For nearly any task you can think of, there are probably multiple software solutions available to meet that need. Deciding which one to use requires research to find which one meets the needs of the project, has the most features and of course comes with the right price. Unfortunately, sometimes the software is only needed for a very limited number of uses or a rare occasion. In these instances, it is hard to justify signing up for a monthly recurring subscription or spending hundreds of dollars up front.

A commonly used type of file that benefits both businesses and individuals are pdf files. PDF files are extremely common because they:

• Allow documents to be shared while maintaining control over the content
• Provide the ability to control who can edit the document
• Maintain the integrity of the formatting and
• Sharing pdf files means anyone accessing them can do so without paying for proprietary software (perhaps the most important reason to use pdf files)

Since pdf files are so popular, it is possible you may inherit one at a job or find an example of a document you like but want to make some changes. If you need to edit a pdf once or only on occasion, consider using Microsoft Word rather than purchasing additional software.

How to Use Microsoft Word as a Free PDF Editor

How to be More Efficient by Managing Quick Access Links

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

Increasing efficiency often feels like a goal that is difficult to obtain. How can we measure efficiency to verify there has been an increase ? How can we consistently increase it without wearing ourselves down? Luckily there are settings in Windows that can be set to best meet our specific needs. For example, modifying the links in the Quick access section in File Explorer can be accomplished within minutes and greatly increase efficiency. 

The Quick access section in File Explorer houses links that reference files, folders, shared drives, or Windows locations like the Desktop or Downloads folders. Quick access links appear in the top left section of every File Explorer window which makes it a great place to link frequently used files and folders. Typically, the longer you have a computer the deeper folders get created. Folders are often organized by year or topic with sub-folders created inside. Creating links in the Quick access section to commonly used, but deep sub-folders, can be a huge time saver.

How to be More Efficient by Managing Quick Access Links

Modifying the settings for the Quick access section

To remove a link listed in the Quick access section:

• Open File Explorer.
• Right-click on the link to remove.
• In the popup menu, select "Remove from Quick access".
  

Security Round Up: What Recent Breaches You Should Know

It is the start of a new year which means new goals for most people and a fresh way of looking at things. Unfortunately, one thing that did not change with the start of the new year is the threat to your personal information and data. During the last few months some substantial new threats were released. These threats are in addition to the millions of users' data leaked via companies like Marriott and others and are of particular importance as they affect hardware items people commonly have in their home.

Security Round Up: What Recent Breaches You Should Know

Guardzilla indoor wireless security systems - GZ501W

A vulnerability in some of Guardzilla's indoor wireless security systems allow hard coded security keys to be easily cracked. This vulnerability exists primarily because the keys utilize an outdated algorithm. Once cracked, those keys can be used to access customer data uploaded to Amazon web services where Guardzilla's storage servers reside. 

Why it's Important to Use Personal Email when Creating Certain Accounts

Keeping track of user accounts and passwords can feel like a ridiculous endeavor. Every site we order from, and even some simply visited, wants you to create an account with them. Some sites no longer allow guest ordering, meaning you are forced to create an account or one is created automatically if you want to order from them. As a result we quickly end up with hundreds of user accounts making it nearly impossible to remember different user id's and password combinations for each. This puts the security of those accounts at risk as any data breach could cause those credentials to be exposed. 

There is another important item to consider when creating new accounts. It is critical to consider what type of account you are creating before determining which email account to use. In some instances the type of email account does not matter while in others it is crucial to use a personal email account, one not attached to any service, to maintain control.

Why it's Important to Use Personal Email when Creating Certain Accounts

First, let's clarify the different types of email. There are personal accounts that are contingent upon a paid service. Examples would be Comcast or AT&T emails provided for free when they are your Internet Service Provider (ISP). There are email accounts provided for free by employers, which are contingent upon your employment with them. The third type of email accounts are those provided for free to users without being tied to a service or job. 

How to Fix Chrome When it Stops Working

Nearly 50% of internet traffic is accessed by people using the Chrome browser. Chrome downloads fast and begins with a minimalistic interface to which plugins can later be added. Last but not least, it is always smart to have two browsers installed on a device. This way, if something happens to one of them, the device can still get online to fix the broken browser. If you only have one browser and it fails, recovering is much more difficult.

With any software application there are times when the application does not respond or behave the way we expect. This often happens when we least expect it, i.e., times when we have not specifically made any changes and are not having any other issues. This makes it challenging to know where to begin troubleshooting. This post specifically covers some ways to fix Chrome when it unexpectedly stops working.

How to Fix Chrome When it Stops Working

Before trying to fix Chrome, it is important to check the following items to be sure the browser is causing the issue.

1. Verify your device is connected to the internet - this can be checked by looking at the wired or wireless connection icon in the system tray.

4 Reasons Why You Need a Backup to Cloud Services

There are many benefits to utilizing cloud services. For some businesses, cloud services are the best way for employees working in different locations to remain informed and work collaboratively. Cloud services can also reduce the initial investment for new businesses, help businesses get started faster, and help with budget planning. 

Unfortunately, like most things, there are drawbacks to consider with the benefits. This post covers four reasons why it is important for any business, and some individuals, to have a backup plan to cloud services.

4 Reasons Why You Need a Backup to Cloud Services

Cloud services rely upon internet accessibility. If the internet goes down, all devices on the network lose the ability to access cloud based services, applications and files. This can cause lost productivity, lost sales, loss of reputation and much more depending upon the type of business.

Below is a list of potential issues and some ideas for workarounds to get you questioning what weaknesses your business may have and what you need to do about them.

Issue 1: Hardware failure