The problem is that updated files released and time stamped after 11:59 PM on 12/31/2009 are treated  as out of date by the endpoint security product. Symantec has a workaround, but weren’t we supposed to have learned our lesson ten years ago?  This bug is not putting a large number of customers at risk today.  Symantec is simply dating all new definition files 12/31/2009 and giving them new version numbers so users stay up to date. Symantec says they are working on a permanent solution to the problem.

Amazing as it is, others are also suddenly finding year 2010 bugs in their software.  Both SpamAssassin and Windows Mobile cell phones are having issues with messages being suddenly marked as from the future — it is likely they are not the only ones.

I guess we did not learn our lessons in Y2K!

This restriction will also spill over the border to the Canadian market where it appears Microsoft can continue to sell Microsoft Word as we know it.

The Canadian market will benefit from the new versions which come out of this new restriction in the US. Microsoft Word is currently the leading office productivity suite in use today throughout the business community. i4i a software firm located in Toronto was successful in a recent lawsuit against the Redmond software giant claiming Microsoft infringed on their software patents in their Microsoft Word 2007 product. i4i claimed, and US courts agreed, that Microsoft infringed on its XML software product which Microsoft currently incorporates in their .docx document format which first appeared in Word 2007. 

First, those businesses who have purchased Office 2007 or Word 2007 can continue to use the Microsoft Office product. The fine folks at Microsoft have committed to continue the support all versions of Word including 2007. Microsoft has already promised a fix which will be compliant with the court ruling against them.

Businesses in the USA and Canada have nothing to worry about and should continue to use Word. Microsoft will have a revised version of Word for sale very soon. No release date has been announced by Microsoft.

Once again, this ruling appears to have no direct impact on established users of the products. I expect Microsoft will license the technology or develop their own which will offer similar services found in Word today. Businesses need to understand their versions of Microsoft are still usable and the leading word processing software isn’t planning to go anywhere.

Have you tried Microsoft Office 2010 Beta yet?  FABULOUS!

who needs our encouragement!!!

Sgt. Daniel Thornhill was seriously injured in Afghanistan two years agoby a suicide bomber.  He lost both legs, is paralyzed from the waist down and suffered severe burns on his hands, arms and body.   According to one report,  Sgt. Thornhill says, “They can possibly take my life but they can’t take what I stand for or what I believe in… and that’s one thing that hasn’t faltered or hasn’t wavered.”

See  an article about Sgt. Thornhill by clicking  here.

His parents are asking for help. No financial help but they would like to help brighten his upcoming birthday. They are asking that people just send their son a card for his birthday.   This young man has sacrificed a lot for our country and it would be great if everyone reading this could join in and send him a card. His birthday is next week.

Please help and please pass the word. This is a real simple way to give back to someone who has given so much for the American people. His address is below. Thank you.

Mailing address:
Sgt. Daniel Thornhill
Fort Sam Houston Fisher House
3623 George C. Beach Rd
Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234

Your cards and letters will mean more than we can know to encourage this brave patriot as he recovers.  Merry Christmas to everyone!

In some cases the patient received treatment or even hospitalization without the knowledge or involvement of the primary care provider or the support team.  Even patients who are referred to a specialist by the primary care provider often return to the primary’s office without results or documentation of the outcome of the visit to a specialist.

Communication is, of course, a two-way street and patients need to take the initiative to ask for their records when seeing a specialist.  Never assume that this is happening.  In addition, patients should review their own records annually to be certain everything there is up to date, inclusive, and accurate.

The Government is emphasizing EMR systems as a means to end these problems and create communication between care providers at the speed of light.  While it will take time for EMRs to be pervasive, the first milestone is upon us.  Medical practices can qualify for up to $44,000 per physician in government funding to adopt EMRs.  The condition is that an approved system must be installed in 2010 and in substantial use by the practitioners.  Failure to meet these criteria will reduce the care provider’s compensation by $18,000 per provider in the practice and it continues to reduce each successive year.

Care providers need to start now to select and implement their EMRs with the help of a skilled, experienced, and local computer service provider.  This need not cost huge amounts of investment nor change your practice, if it is selected and implemented in a professional manner.  Practices do not need to change their care processes or flow.  With a simple and direct five stage approach, care providers can have the technology enabling their work to improve patient encounters and make their life much better…AND, the government will pay for it.  Why wait?

Patients need to be alert to care providers using paper charts and ask the care provider when they plan to have an EMR in place.  Everyone benefits and the cost of waiting or doing nothing is too great.

Additional information is available by clicking here:  http://www.beckitsystems.com/medical_er.php

Good News from an Earthquake

To download The 12 Insider Secrets to Protect Your Data, click here.

surgical mask

The floods, earthquakes and tornadoes of 2008 motivated many companies to revisit or begin Business Continuity Planning. The recent news of a potential Swine Flu Pandemic is just one more reminder of the importance of having a working plan in place.  A vital piece of continuity planning is workforce planning specifically for a pandemic. This should include establishing remote access, web conferencing, and identifying backup sites incase sites go down.

In case of a pandemic, companies need to ensure that key personnel can work remotely with secure computer and internet access. Critical systems must be accessible with contingencies in place for access if key personnel get sick and their responsibilities need to be taken over. BeckITSystems includes products to secure workers and centrally manage remote desktops and laptops for all our clients.

In recent years businesses have focused on Business Continuity with specific Pandemic initiatives and virtualization server technology aimed at helping firms keep computer systems and network infrastructures up and running in the event of an outbreak or disaster.

Web conferencing will help your team stay productive and allow them to conduct business without having to travel during times of potential outbreak. Remote access to files and documents is critical to making web conferencing effective.

Locating and equipping a remote operations site during a crisis is next to impossible.  Companies such as Agility, specialize in continuity solutions that provide power, technology, space and connectivity in the event of a disaster.

This is a good opportunity for you to emphasize to your employees the normal flu season messages–hand hygiene, stay home if you don’t feel well, etc. Access to a guide for data backup and disaster recovery is located at www.ManageMyTechnology.com.  This blog recently featured a 12 part series on web-worker tools. Most of the tools are free, all are on the Internet and all provide excellent collaboration features plus management insight into the work. For more information on Business Continuity and Web-Worker Program Planning, you may contact BeckITSystems, Inc. on the web at www.BeckITSystems.com ; by email at KeepITGoing@BeckITSystems.com ; or by phone at (703) 433-0730.  

A podcast of a good success story of business continuity is found at www.BusinessTechRadio.com  I recommend this 3 minute mp3 to you!

Swine Flu Update

The recent cases of swine flu in Mexico and the US are concerning, because they have occurred in individuals who have not had contact with livestock, indicating human-to-human transmission.

Evernote captures your data and allows you to retrieve it from overriding devices from the Web. The Web worker’s job is to make sure you have selected good key words. So there will be easily retrieval later. In addition, Evernot provides client software that allows synchronizing the online database with multiple Windows or Macintosh and even Windows mobile hardware.

If you are a road warrior, you will LOVE the mobile client that allows you to search on your PDA! Oh yes, did I also tell you that it’s free?

Sharing the information you have stored with coworkers, supervisors or anyone is as easy as clicking on the e-mail icon. Evernote will send the information by e-mail to your recipients. If you are already deeply engaged in the Google online tools, then you may want to use Google notebook instead. Google notebook is similar in functions and of course interacts with the other Google applications. If you later decide to leave Google behind, there is an import facility in Evernote that accepts all the Google notebook data you have created.

Most Web worker arrangements include worktime in the office as well as worktime an alternate location. With that arrangement the Web worker has a PC already installed in the organization’s office. As a result secure access to the employees dedicated computer is all that is needed to access corporate computing tools remotely. VPN has been the tool of choice, because of its security. Today LogMeIn provides the encrypted VPN tunnel for security with remote access to the employee’s in-office computer. Best of all, operating LogMeIn is simple and highly reliable.

LogMeIn is a tool that can easily be set-up, provides VPN encryption, and, depending on the feature set required, is free or inexpensive.  Check out this wonderful application and the different versions available at www.LogMeIn.com.