|
|
|
|
|
Ordering a new computer? Have a new computer? Setting up a new computer... |
February - 2007 |
Site Hints |
| This Month: |
A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students. - John Ciardi
Changes at BCS --topThis year there will be some changes in our availability, hours and possibly other aspects of the business, so please be sure to call before coming to the shop. More in future newsletters... Sales Tax Audit --topYou may know by now, some businesses in Annandale have had sales tax audits. We just finished one and much to our surprise, most of our labor should be taxed, specifically installation labor. Although we do not agree with the law, we understand that labor is taxable when installing new hardware, but the auditor insisted that rule includes Windows Security patches. And even though we do not charge extra for that service, and even though these updates would occur on their own, the State wants us to collect sales tax on that labor as well. Yes, we are confused too. Zero labor charge times .065 is still zero... At this time, we know of a couple businesses that had to pay sales tax on our invoices, but then we too paid the sales tax on that same invoice. Is there any wonder why Minnesota is listed as one of the highest taxed states in the country? On a similar topic, the State once again is reporting a huge surplus. You know how this will work, they have "extra" money so they will spend it. Then in the next year or two, when revenues are down, they will again look for new sources of revenue... Ultimately this will likely not matter, but this online tax cut petition is another way to voice your opinion. And, expect more tax increases. OK, we are done venting. For now... HP Color Printer --topWe stumbled across this calculator for HP color printers. It calculates the cost per page (CPP) for their various color printers. The link. Terabyte Hard Drives --topHard drives that can store one
terabyte of information will soon be available.
But a terabyte is huge! It is:
For a little perspective on just how big that is, you could store the equivalent of about:
It is really, really big:
More examples on storage consumption. But technology is getting way ahead of itself - again. There is currently no feasible way to back up that much data, e.g., if you have a "T1" (1,536 Kbps) DSL line, backing up 1 terabyte of information online would take about 2,373 hours and even if you had an OC192 network (no business we know has one) a terabyte transfer would take 21 hours. Online calculator. Size calculator. Computer Basics --topWe have created a couple short Flash presentations explaining various computer subjects. They require Adobe/Macromedia Flash Player. This one time installation is available here if necessary, but if you can view the presentation at the top of this page, Flash is already installed.
Printing Issues After Installing IE7 --topWe are hearing about all kinds of problems on this issue... Apparently a result of the Internet Explorer version 7 update, but uninstalling IE7 will not resolve some of the problems. This is apparently a "known issue" that Microsoft is "working on." Two common problems are pictures not printing correctly and email headers not printing. Internet Explorer's "shrink to fit" feature is causing problems printing some Internet pages and unfortunately, that cannot be turned off. You can however resolve this problem temporarily by the print preview then change "Shrink to Fit" to "100%" then print from that preview. Another issue caused by IE7 is that Outlook Express does not print the email headers. We found a variety of "fixes," but none are absolute...
Other IE7 Issues --topWe have recently seen computers with Internet Explorer 7 loaded that indicate "connecting" but never get anywhere. One reason we have found is due to one (or more) of the following add-ons: A major headache seems to be "Connection Assistant" (or some similar variation), but also try disabling ICQ, Search Safe, PCTools (multiple entries,) Spybot-SD, Spyware Doctor. Look in the Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, select then uninstall the item. If not listed, try this: From the Control Panel > Internet Options, click to the Programs tab then click the Manage Add-ons button. In the window that opens, locate, select and "disable" the add-on... Google Earth Update --top
Outlook: Send from Account --topOutlook users with multiple accounts can change the account you are sending from this way:
Centennial Bulb --topIn a fire station in Livermore, California, there is a light bulb that has been "on" since 1901. Yes, that is 106 years old and still working. The bulb's output is very low hence the reason it is still alive, but still, 106 years latter? These days we are lucky to see 106 weeks out of a bulb... They don't make 'em like this anymore. Webcam link and bulb facts page. Speaking of bygone, here is a classic video clip. (2 megabyte) IE7 and Adobe Reader / Acrobat Issues --topRecently a customer resolved an issue where the Adobe Reader would report an error that it could not open within the Internet Explorer. Here is the fix:
Thanks Bette We will leave you with this Feminine:
Masculine:
|
--top
