Hello Everyone!

If you’re one of our clients or contacts, you’ve probably already heard this by now… but we recently sent out an email blast explaining how Microsoft just released an urgent security patch that really need to install if you are using any version of Windows.

Microsoft security update MS08-067 - addresses a vulnerability in Windows server service that would allow an attacker to do anything they want, essentially, on the server without authentication. While having a powerful firewall may provide you some protection from direct attacks, you should always take caution when opening and downloading email from unknown sources. For your safety, you should assume messages from unrecognized names or addresses are dangerous.

To further protect your computer and your entire office network, make sure that you Run this Security Update on your computer, make sure the rest of your team does the same, and continue to use caution when opening email.

In addition to these precautionary measures, your server should be updated as well. If you are in one of our service areas (Metro Detroit area including Ann Arbor, and the Greater Nashville area) and would like us to make sure all your hardware and software is up to date, please call our offices at (734) 975-0460 or (615) 526-2626 and schedule an appointment with one of our Microsoft Certified Consultants.

In the meantime, we strongly recommend that you have Microsoft Updates delivered automatically to your PC. When your computer is on and connected to the Internet, the most current security updates are automatically downloaded and installed. To learn how to turn on automatic updating for your particular operating system, Click Here.

For a quick reference, this security problem affects Microsoft Small Business Server, Microsoft Windows 2003 Server and Microsoft Windows Server 2000, to name a few.

Subtitle: A love letter from a Macintosh Fangirl to the new MacBook Pro.

If you’ve registered any product with Apple — your desktop, laptop, iPod, Apple TV — you probably got the email last Wednesday announcing Apple’s new pride and joy… the next in line to the throne known as the MacBook Pro.

So what’s so special about this iteration of my favorite machine? Aside from the fact that it’s streamlined, glossy and encased in aluminum, I think the folks at Apple can sell it best… so I’ll quote a few of my favorite one-liners from Apple’s Official Website.

• “The 15-inch MacBook Pro is sleeker, thinner, and years ahead of its time.”
• It features an ultra-thin 15-inch LED-backlit display that is “…uniformly bright and brilliant from the moment you turn it on. It’s completely arsenic- and mercury-free and more power efficient than ever.”
• “the keys are curved to perfectly fit fingers. The result? Pure typing bliss.”
  (Did I mention that the keyboard is also illuminated? Yeah, it is… so you can be business-as-usual in low light settings.)
• “The MacBook Pro has a hard drive up to 320GB and up to 4GB of RAM. So there’s plenty of room for your photo libraries, video projects, and files.”
• “…the new MacBook Pro [has] the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at speeds up to 2.8GHz.”
• It’s trackpad has no button: It is the button. “With a smooth glass surface, this spacious trackpad brings even more Multi-Touch gestures and functionality to the 15-inch MacBook Pro.”

In short, I opened the email, I drooled, I cried… I quickly deleted it so not to torture myself any further.

Some people think that “Mac People” are crazy. Mac People think that anybody who uses anything BUT a Mac are crazy. I mean really… given the choice, who in their right mind would turn the opportunity to upgrade to this?!? (** Although, at Dynamic Edge, we’re very much fond of Dell as well. **)

A quick eval of the product being immortalized above:
One drawback of the New MacBook Pro is that it’s missing the Fire Wire 400 port its predecessor touted, and has been replaced with a Fire Wire 800 port. This is, however, backwards compatible — which means the port can support 400 devices, you just need a cable to adapt it. The new MacBook (not the Pro) has no Fire Wire access at all, so you’re left relying on USB 2.0 technology to transport your photos, music etc…

… Remember, if you need computer support, we have Apple Certified Consultants, too

This is a fun trick I picked up at a technology training seminar Bruce was teaching on Wednesday.

Word 2007 has a great new feature called Track Changes that allows you to see what changes have been made to a document. This is especially useful for legal documents, newsletter articles and drafts of letters you’d send to clients. You can find the tools you need to track changes on the “Reviewing” tab of the Ribbon (I just learned that term, it’s the actual name for the light blue area on the top of your Word window.)

Start Tracking Changes
To start tracking the changes you make to a document, click on Track Changes icon.

• Click Review Tab on the Ribbon
• Click Track Changes
• Make the changes to your document and you will see any changes you have made.

It’s soooo easy!

New Views!
There are four ways to view a document once you’ve started to track changes. They are:

• Final Showing Markup:  This shows the document with the changes displayed
• Final: This shows the changed document, without showing the changes
• Original Showing Markup: The original document with the changes displayed
• Original: The original document without any changes.

Favorite Feature!
The Show Markup feature lets you see different items (comments, formatting, etc.) and choose to view different editors’ comments. After you view the changes in a document you can either choose to accept or reject the changes.  This way, you can review the document step-by-step to accept or reject each change.

There’s also a Comments feature that lets you insert comments in the margin of the document.  To add a new comment, put your cursor where you would like to add the comment and click on New Comment. Seriously, anybody can do this… and it’ll make your life so much easier.

Believe it or not, I came up with this one all by myself!

Nearly all Mac users, notorious for storing and transporting files using thumb drives are, at some point, interrupted by corrupt files. The problem is, that once files on your thumb drive start corrupting, the only way around it is to reformat the drive. If this happens to you, make a set of backups and follow

these steps:

1. Start the Disk Utility, which you can find in the Applications - Utilities folder. The Disk Utility window will open to display a list of disks in the left-hand column.
2. Plug your corrupting thumb drive, and it should immediately show up in the list of drives.
3. Click the thumb drive in the list to select it.

[CAUTION! When you reformat a drive it completely erases everything that’s on it. Make sure you’ve selected the correct disk! Now would be a good time to double-check to make sure that you have everything you want to keep backed up.]

4. After selecting the thumb drive in the list click on the Erase tab on the right hand side of the window.
5. Choose a Volume Format from the pop-up — we recommend Mac OS extended (Journaled) for Mac-only users and MS-DOS(FAT) for those who want to use the drive cross-platform — from here, you’ll be allowed to name the drive.
6. An alert will appear to remind you that all data will be erased and asking you to confirm that you wish to erase the drive.
7. Click Erase again to clear out the drive, and after a few moments the disk will be reformatted.

Most users find that re-formatting a drive will resolve numerous issues, including corrupted files. However, it’s a good idea to hold onto the backup you’ve created, just in case the problem isn’t fixed by the reformatting. In this case, many retailers will offer a suitable replacement for less than $30 – which we highly recommend as well.