In
this issue of Horse Sense:
Tips:
If you use
multiple machines or browsers, you
can synchronize bookmarks and/or
passwords using software and
services from [XMarks got replaced by other synchronization alternatives-Edited 9/16/19].
As of now the product is in beta, so
it is free. Of course, you can
always just back up your bookmarks
to an HTML page....
To monitor
whether your website is working for
free, use <http://basicstate.com>.
It will run numerous tests to see if
it is reachable, send you e mails if
it isn't with the reason why it
isn't, and track uptime and
performance.
You can find out
a lot of information about the
programs you use in Windows Vista.
Open Control Panel and pick Programs
and Features. If you right click on
one of the column headings like Size
and then choose More you will have
the opportunity to show a lot more
information about each program.
Information like manufacturer
telephone numbers and support links
are available as is when you last
used the software. If you haven't
used it in a long while, you should
probably uninstall it to free up
space, increase available resources,
and increase reliability.
Did you close a
tab in Firefox you didn't mean to?
Hit ctrl-shift-T and it will
reappear. If it wasn't the most
recent tab, you can view the last
ten you closed in History, Recently
Closed Tabs. If you need more than
ten because you open more tabs than
that at a time browse about:config
and change the
browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo
to whatever number you would like.
If you want to
add a new search engine (like
YouTube or MySpace search pages) to
the drop down list of search sites
in Firefox, Chrome, or another
Mozilla derived browser visit <http://mycroft.mozdev.org/>.
Paste the link of the search page
into the blank. If you type in
something generic, like
maps.google.com, it will give you
choices and reviews of those
choices.
Finding Money for Your Pet Projects
(2)
Here are some
ideas on how to find money for your
pet projects and how to spend that
money wisely. Some may be obvious
to you. Others may seem to repeat a
point I've already made, but that is
only natural since we are talking
about improving on the same basic
processes. Looking at the problem
from a different direction sometimes
triggers a revelation. Be on the
lookout for our next Horse Sense
which will cover still more ways for
you to get a Return on Grief (TM).
Of course, if you have any ideas or
comments you would like to share
with us, we are listening!
(1)
Reexamine what you are doing.
(2)
Say no.
(3)
Use consultants.
(4)
Get a better warranty.
(5) Do
less.
(6)
Get someone else to do it who values
your business.
(7)
Think small.
(8) Be
prepared.
(9)
Maintain what you have in good
order.
(10)
If you can't hire staff, consider
outsourcing functions.
(11)
Consider different methods of paying
for what you need. Remember, what
you need isn't hardware or software;
it is the end product that these
tools can help you produce. Think
about financing (paying over time),
leasing, and paying for the service
or result you need rather than the
product (bundled security services
with a security product, outsourced
desktop or server support, or pay
per click printing, for example).
You could also consider "share in
savings" contracting where a
contractor does everything and you
pay them based on what you save (a
type of pay for performance
contract). Consider cost shifting.
See if you can get someone else to
pay for it. For example, if you can
save money on electricity costs by
implementing new products or
software, can that money be added
into your budget? This is the
interior version of a share in
savings contract. We know of a
federal government contractor who
rehabilitates buildings on its own
dime and then makes its money on the
back end via energy savings. The
government pays nothing for the
building rehab and realizes energy
savings over the long run while the
contractor also makes money!
(12)
Use free stuff. For example, while
OpenOffice.org doesn't have some of
the features and integration
capabilities of Microsoft Office
2007, it looks, feels, and acts very
much like Microsoft Office 2003.
We've talked about many excellent
and free utilities you can use in
previous Horse Sense articles.
(13)
Consider bulk buying, even if it
costs you more now. The overall
savings can be great, like 3 years
worth of service while only paying
for 2. Buying extra licenses to
allow for growth could lower your
price per license significantly. It
will also save you the cost and
hassle of a new procurement as well
as having to track those licenses
separately. Remember that buying
anything requires effort. The less
of it you have to do, the better
your Return on Grief will be.
(14)
Buy for the long term. It is a huge
temptation to look at the minimum
requirements now. Don't succumb to
it. Instead, look at the maximum or
worst case requirements. Paying for
a few "extras" now could help you
avoid big expenses later. Do you
wonder how much drive space you
need? Buy more capacity. Pay the
small price difference for the
larger drive. If you ever need the
space, it will be there. It is a
cheap form of insurance when you
think about the costs of an
unexpected or emergency upgrade.
I've never had anyone complain about
having too much of a good thing.
(15)
Start at the right end of the
problem. Often, I'm asked to quote
hardware for someone. But, that is
where you should end, not start. To
get the "best" answer, you should
define your problem and how it needs
to be solved. Then pick software to
help you do that. Then pick
hardware to run the software. Look
not only at that specific problem,
but others you might expect to see.
Obviously, buying something and not
solving your immediate, ancillary,
and expected problems is expensive.
Building a strong
infrastructure is always a good
idea. For example, gigabit
networking might not help you to
surf the web or do simple word
processing, but it doesn't hurt
either, and will make your backups
much faster. Disk defragmentation
will make your machine run faster,
last longer, and act more reliably.
For other good ideas, see "The Best
Technologies You Still Aren't Using"
<http://www.ih-online.com/hs80.html>.
(16)
Use dates wisely. For organizations
that run on a budget year, the
transition gives a lot of
flexibility in how you might pay for
something. It is possible to pay
for something next fiscal year, but
get it this year. Also possible is
paying in installments, some this
year, some next. For anything that
is a recurring expense, try to move
the contract renewals 6 months or so
off of the fiscal end of year.
Dealing with the end of an old
budget and beginning of a new one is
difficult enough without adding the
pressure of negotiating maintenance
contracts. There can be little time
for review and questions. So, move
those decisions away from your
fiscal end of year to give yourself
more time to deal with them
effectively.
(17)
Keep a wish list. A wish list is
valuable in case there is some
budget money left at the end of the
year that must be spent. He with a
bucket available can catch funds
that rain down. Aside from being
able to catch orphaned dollars, you
can use it when talking to others.
They may have a similar wish list
and want to combine their efforts
with yours. They may wish to fund
your wish so they can also get one
of their wishes fulfilled.
Especially valuable and worth
filling are small wishes that
contribute to morale and add
excitement and camaraderie, like
Toys for Techs (see <http://www.ih-online.com/hs76.html>).
(18)
Cut recurring costs like maintenance
and support agreements and telephony
costs. Sometimes an old contract is
costing a ton. Over the last 10
years, we've changed service
providers and increased our
connection speeds 50 times while
cutting our monthly costs in half!
Any recurring cost is a continual
drag on the organization. Think of
it this way. If you make $1 on each
$10 widget you sell, for every $1
you save in recurring costs, you
make the same as selling a widget a
month without any effort!
(19)
Cut your licensing by using only
what you need. Make sure your
licensing is correct. Buying too
many licenses can cost a ton of
money and has zero value to you. Do
you have processes, procedures, and
software for managing your software
licensing? This may seem to negate
the benefits of buying extra
licensing that I mention in point
(13), but it is a balance folks.
Besides, you don't want to be under
licensed. The legal term for that is
copyright infringement and the
penalties are astronomical.
(20)
Go green or turn it off. You would
be amazed at how much power is
consumed by equipment that isn't
doing anything. So, use the off
switch, power down software, replace
power hungry equipment with power
sipping equipment, and use smart
power provisioning devices and
software.
Investing in
green technologies can pay off
handsomely. Use this savings
calculator <http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/power_mgt/LowCarbonITSavingsCalc.xls>
to see how much you might save by
using green technologies. Lower
energy bills can help justify the
purchase of new equipment. Consider
a LaserJet 4 printer and a Xerox
Phaser Color 6360 printer that are
left on all year in their lowest
power modes. No one even prints to
them. At 10 cents/kWh, you will pay
at least $29 more a year for the
LaserJet 4 just for the power
usage. This doesn't even factor in
air conditioning savings and other
costs. And, you have a new, much
more capable printer! Your greatest
savings will come from equipment
that is on all of the time. This
includes printers, switches,
routers, and servers, but can also
include desktops and even speakers
(which take far more power than you
might think). There are further,
less obvious savings to be had. For
example, if you have maxed out your
electrical system, using power
saving technologies will avoid
expensive and disruptive visits by
the electrician.