Organization like this is best accomplished through the strict adoption of certain file management practices on your network. We recommend the following: Keep All Documents Within a Root Folder Whether you’re organizing documents on your own workstation, or are developing a file sharing environment, every document should be contained in a single folder (known as the root folder) and divvied up into various sub-folders to keep them organized. This will simplify the process of finding your files later. Use Folders to Your Advantage As mentioned, you will want to create various sub-folders to create a more granular organizational system. Let’s say you keep your contracts with your clients in a particular folder. Calling this folder “Contracts” lets you know what it contains and can be divided up into folders for each of the years that these contracts were agreed upon. All of your files should be easily located based on the folders you create. Determine Specific Naming Conventions You will want to make sure that all of your files are given descriptive names to simplify finding them later on. Simply naming a file ‘invoice’ will not be enough to help you identify which invoice is contained in that file and will only make it more difficult to find at a later date. This is why it is so important to be specific as you name your files. The Windows operating system allows a total of 260 characters to be used – including the name of the drive, all folders, and the end file name. Therefore, being succinct while specific is crucial. Try to name your files in a way that clearly communicates what their contents are, so that both you and anyone you share a file with can get a clear sense of what it contains at a glance – even without the path hierarchy to tell them what it means. You can also use your file names to make it more convenient to find the ones you need. Adding a character to the beginning of the name will make it default to the top of the list of files. Create Files Where You Want Them It is far easier to initially create a document where you want it stored than it is to relocate it later. Don’t hesitate to do so, using the naming conventions that you established. Enable Collaboration In today’s cooperative business environment, the capability for your entire team to accomplish productive work in a shared digital workspace is key. This is why it is strongly encouraged that businesses utilize the cloud for these file management capacities. For assistance in creating this kind of hierarchy, supported by the capabilities of cloud technologies, reach out to SRS Networks. Our IT experts can help you design a workable and intuitive resource for your business to leverage. Call (831) 758-3636 to learn more.
Then there is the story that came out of the College of Saint Rose in New York’s capital city of Albany early in April, 2019. An alumnus of the postgraduate school, Vishwanath Akuthota, was charged with, and pled guilty to, using what is known as a “USB killer” to fry the components of 59 Windows computers and seven Apple computers on campus. In all it has cost the college $58,371 to replace the computers. A Indian national, in the United States on a student visa, Akuthota filmed himself destroying the machines on his iPhone. For his misdeeds, he faces as much as ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for repeat. What is USB Killer? The “USB Killer” is a thumb drive that works by drawing power from the USB port to charge a capacitor in the USB, then discharging the power into the USB port, frying essential components inside the machine, leaving it broken. The device itself is available online and is usually advertised as a tool meant to test a devices surge protection. Sabotage and Critical Mistakes Every business wants to avoid situations like this. While there isn’t much you can do against the “USB Killer”, there is plenty you can do to help you ward against employee-induced catastrophe. According to an independent study, in 2018 more than two-out-of-every-three data breaches were the result of employee negligence, direct employee theft, or straight sabotage. You read that right. You have a better chance of being put behind the eight ball by your employees than you do by any other person. That’s not to say your employees are out to get you, as only about a quarter of data breaches were a result of a current or former employee’s deliberate action, but rest assured you need to protect your network and computing infrastructure against situations in which there could be data loss triggered by your team. How to Protect Your IT from Your Staff? The first thing you should do is put together a strategy to snuff out potentially disastrous situations before they happen. That means training and monitoring. By training your staff on the best practices of using the systems they come into contact with, they’ll have a better understanding of how they work, and therefore will likely make fewer egregious errors. On the other hand, if they understand the systems and are versed in solid practices, some of them will want to take liberties that they maybe wouldn’t have if they were less informed. This is why a thorough monitoring strategy is important. While this strategy will work to keep your data and infrastructure safer, it might just save you some time and money in lost productivity. If your organization would like more information about how to train your staff properly, or how to sufficiently protect your network and infrastructure from all manners of threats, contact the IT pros at SRS Networks today at (831) 758-3636.
Modern VR In 2019, after some thirty years of development of the technology, not many organizations have made the investment in VR. To be fair, however, VR has finally established itself as an entertainment platform. Some of the most powerful organizations in the world made that happen. Samsung and Google both created VR experiences using mobile devices, while Sony developed a VR platform for their Playstation 4 game console. These have been marginally popular, but when we talk about future VR-for-business function, these options likely won’t be on anyone’s radar. Two options that are clearly at the top of the commercial virtual reality space are the HTC Vive (and Vive Pro) and the Oculus Rift. Oculus, which is owned by Facebook, currently has the lead in true VR sales, but as with the HTC Vive (and Vive Pro) the platform needs a high-end computing rig connected to it to run the software. These two will provide users with the most immersive experience that isn’t only designed for gaming (even though a majority of the applications for them are games). Both VR options present users with the capacity to immerse themselves in their virtual worlds, providing developers with unprecedented opportunities for software creation. The applications that are being built for VR allow users to explore the earth (and space) in a manner that may be completely immersive, but it is only a simulated reality. The Immediate Future of VR The future of VR presents less in the way of simulations, and more in the way of reality. Obviously, people aren’t likely going to be able to walk on the moon, or swim to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, but with VR-supported systems running educational and training software, people will finally be able to use virtual reality to experience lifelike experiences that they wouldn’t typically have access to. Many manufacturers have begun to work on Microsoft’s Mixed Reality (MR) devices with an eye for business integration by 2020. The platform is much like virtual reality, but it uses elements of virtual reality and elements of its sister technology, augmented reality, to produce a construct built specifically for business professionals who work in technical jobs. Jobs that current IT haven’t been able to find solutions for. There is an expectation that VR will move past its entertainment-only profile sometime in the very near future. Since developers are hard at work creating software that takes advantage of the seemingly limitless ways in which a virtual sandbox will help business professionals improve their performance and the way that they look at their work. What are your opinions of VR? Do you think it can ever be a viable business tool, or do you think it’s only ever going to be a gimmick technology used to play games on? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
As we proceed, it should be noted that these steps will require you to have administrative control over a Page on Facebook. As such, you will have a few options to exercise. Use the Profanity Filter The Profanity Filter is more or less what it sounds like… Facebook has used feedback by its users to create tiered lists of words and phrases deemed offensive, enabling you to block these words and phrases from appearing on a Page you run. This can help you to keep your business’ Page looking appropriately professional. From your business’ Page, access Settings. In General, you will find the Profanity Filter option. There are three available settings, Off, Medium and Strong, to filter through these offensive terms. Once you have selected your preferred filter strength, make sure you save your changes. This effectively signals to Facebook that you don’t want words or phrases that have been democratically deemed offensive to show up on your page. As a result, any comments or posts using such language are prevented from successfully posting. Blocking Specific Words Of course, not everything that is offensive will necessarily be stopped by the filter. This is where the ability Facebook grants you to block particular words on your Page comes particularly in handy. Let’s run through this process, using a word that many vocally find despicable: moist. From your Page, access the Settings, much like we did before. This time, under General, we want to access Page Moderation. There, you can input words that you don’t want to have on your page, each separated by a comma. Don’t forget, you will need to input all forms of your word in order for them all to be blocked. So, to block moist, you will also need to input moistest, moisten, moisting, and moisted. While this will be an ongoing process, using these tools will help you keep your Facebook presence up to your personal standards. For other handy IT tips, make sure you subscribe to our blog.
- 1
- 2