I just finished up a very upsetting phone call with a business owner. She brought us her home computer after her current computer support company said they couldn’t help her this week. She assured me all of her files were backed up when she gave me the computer and said it was set up by the same people that do her business’ computers. (She brought it to us because they told her that they are a small company and would be on vacation; they were not available until after the holidays.)

After reviewing the backups she provided we discovered, she ONLY had backups of her email! I know that all computer companies are not created equal, but come on folks, just her email? Really?

Based on this information, we decided to do a problem prevention network audit for her business. Guess what? Their server is backing up to itself (rather than an external hard drive), they are missing more than 5 security patches on 8 of their workstations, and most of the computers are not up-to-date with antivirus.

I spent an hour and a half trying to help her find other copies of her photos.  Even though her current computer company is charging her to “maintain” her servers and computers, there aren’t any backups of her critical data.
One way that you can make sure this is not happening to you is to get a Problem Prevention Network Audit.

With a whole new generation of Bluetooth headsets out, it may be time to upgrade. I have two favorites in the over $100 professional talker category, the Jawbone Prime, and the Plantronics Voyager Pro.

When looking for style, noise reduction, and good sound quality even on the walk from the car to the office the Jawbone Prime is my tool of choice. It is easy to slip on, initiate a call and start talking. The biggest issue with it is battery life, they box reports 3.5 hours, and I get about 2.5 hours of talk time using it. The Jawbone Prime shares the same standard USB charger as the iPhone, so if you have a car charger for your iPhone you are in luck, and it can be “Quick Charged” in about 25 minutes. A “Quick Charge” lasts for about an hour of talk time.

When I want a long battery life, am going to be inside, and feel comfortable wearing a headset around, the Plantronics Voyager Pro is my choice. The biggest issue with the Voyager Pro is the difficulty to put it on and take it off, especially if you wear glasses. One suggestion was to put it on when you get up and wear it all day! (Take it off before you shower!) With this headset we were able to get over 5 hours of talk time in the car and the office. The noise cancelation worked great to get rid of background noise in the car and around the office. Walking outside on the other hand created a lot of wind noise. Get this product if you are looking to be able to spend hours on the phone without charging up. Word of caution, the announcement on the airplane telling you to put away all electronic devices is NOT SUPPRESSED AT ALL by the noise cancelation.

All of the testing I did was with an iPhone, I am sure your mileage with vary depending on your cell phone type. Having Bluetooth enabled on an iPhone decreased my iPhone battery life a bit.

Stay tuned for more gift updates!

Is it time to jump from still images to video? You can start recording the holiday emotion and more important the holiday follies. (You may be thinking to yourself, I have been doing video for years! Read on.) Recently I added a Flip Video to my toolkit. Not only is it great for recording stories about saving servers, it is great for putting together those holiday moments.

I prefer a Flip over a tape based device because it is so easy to use and allows me to quickly record even just a few seconds of video. I carry mine around with me in my coat pocket, so it is always ready to go. Instead of having a camera stuck to my eye, I shoot little 20 to 30 second clips. I then take these clips and edit them together using some simple video editing software. The Flip comes with some to get you started. I prefer iMovie on a Macintosh. (Yeah, I use a Mac to do my personal stuff.) Here’s a link to a video I put together over Thanksgiving.

I really like the minoHD, it is small, has a great battery life and is super easy to use. Recording video is as simple as clicking the red button. Also, there are no cables (just flip out the usb connector!) You can also customize the look of your camera on Flip Video’s website. Finally, posting to YouTube is as simple as clicking on share inside the Flip software. 

 Stay tuned for more Gift Ideas!

We will be posting a number of reviews over the next week discussing our favorite products and why we love them:

Day 1: Get YouTubed.

Day 2: Get Your Talk On.