As it does every three years, Microsoft is releasing a new version of its popular Office software suite. However, Office 2013 has some significant differences, especially in regards to installation and licenses that you should consider before choosing between the retail Office 2013 and its subscription based brother Office 365.

LinkedIn owned SlideShare is rolling out a new feature aimed at sales and marketing groups to deliver real-time engagement data from content shared via e-mail. Targeted towards your sales and marketing team, Send Tracker is a content analytics tool that lets users share new or existing content from a SlideShare account to a prospect via email.

People increasingly expect to use their personal laptops, smartphones and tablets at work. And they do. More than 70 percent of U.S. small businesses allow employees to use their smartphones for work, according to the Aberdeen Group, a Boston-based technology research firm.

Employers with "bring your own device" (BYOD) policies can cut their costs for purchasing and administering phones and computers. Also, employees often are more productive and happier when using the devices they're most comfortable with.

It is very rare that I decide to write an article reviewing an application of any sort. However, a recent download on my Android phone has prompted me to share the virtues of a newly discovered navigation app: Waze (http://www.waze.com).

So you're running a small business and you've got the basics of social networking mastered: You frequently tweet, you've created a venue on Foursquare and your Facebook Page is a work of art. How do you move to the next level of social marketing mastery?

Some credit cards offer you cash back on your purchases;  others, airline miles or rewards points. Google is now jumping into the mix. The Internet giant is offering a credit card for small businesses to purchase AdWords (its pay-per-click advertising service). The reward points can be used to purchase, you guessed it: more AdWords!. Google started rolling out these credit cards to small businesses in the UK on Sunday and will offer more credit cards to small businesses in the U.S. later this month.

If you are one of the millions of Internet email users who relinquished a Hotmail account in favor of an @ Yahoo or an @ Gmail.com address, Microsoft is aiming to woo you back. Be forwarned: Outlook.com is not your father’s Hotmail! Microsoft has changed the interface’s focus from the datacenter type email experience to that of the more user interactive experience.

Salesforce.com recently revealed Salesforce Communities, a platform that lets companies create social networks with Facebook-esque features for employees to engage with customers, business partners, and one another.  The goal, according to Salesforce, is simply "putting customers at the heart of your business”.

Unfortunately, too many people are still relying on “password” as the key to their login information, based on a new report.

Many small to mid-sized businesses are seeking to realign their IT strategy by moving their messaging and data services for office staff into a “cloud-based” environment.  Along with a desire to reduce large Capital expenditures in favor of more manageable Operational costs, a cloud strategy is appealing for small businesses whom often outsource their current IT support to a third party provider. Moving key line of business applications such as MS Office and Exchange email can enhance application uniformity, file access flexibility, and reduce technology support costs.

The next-generation iPhone -- presumably called the iPhone5, which will reportedly come out this fall, is already a topic of conversation for Apple lovers everywhere, as rumors regarding its shape, specs and software continue to spread like a wildfire across the Web.

Here's a look at the most talked about iPhone 5 projections to surface from the rumor mill so far.

If you have yet to equip your Mac with Apple's latest Java update to protect it from the Flashback trojan said to infect over 600,000 devices, now might be a good time to do it. Apparently, there's another trojan making rounds on unprotected Macs.

Dorset Connects shows business owners two simple to use options for credit card processing from your smartphone: Square and GoPayment.

Summary: From when and how to use hashtags to advice about tone and personality, the social networking giant has published a guide to help business owners get more comfortable as tweeps.

Microsoft is warning all users of its Internet Explorer web browser to immediately apply the latest security patch as a precaution against malicious hacker attacks. . The most severe vulnerabilities could allow a remote hacker full access to your computer if you (or another user) simply view a specially crafted web page using Internet Explorer.

Tax time is looming. Many small business owners are going nuts trying to calculate ever changing depreciation rules for their technology capital-expenditure (cap-ex) purchases. Not only is the constant struggle to hit this moving target enough to drive business owners crazy, having to predict what your capital expense budget will be for the coming year can be an equally daunting challenge. It is hard, if not impossible, to forecast if and when a PC or server will crash and need replacement. Consider the strategic decision to simply move all of these costs (both foreseen and unforeseen) into a fixed, monthly operational expense.

It’s is that time of year again; time for creating numerous Top Ten lists that look back on the previous year, and time to make predictions for the upcoming year. With that spirit in mind,  we at Dorset Connects, have scoured the blogs, newsletters and conference rooms to pin point the key technology trends that will have the most impact on small to mid-sized businesses for 2012. So before sitting down at your upcoming Holiday feast, take some time to review the Dorset Connects Top 2012 Technology Predictions...

SplashData has created password rankings based on millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers.  If you are using any of these passwords, you should change it as soon as possible.  Here are a few rules of thumb to keep in mind when creating a new password.

Okay, it's time to hit the online shopping extravaganza and cash in your hard-earned bucks, pounds, euros, etc. for some real-time shopping. Stay safe out there with these five online shopping tips:

The 2012 election season is just beginning yet it seems it has already been going on forever. The 24/7 news media just have to talk about something, so they invite guests to regurgitate tired party talking points ad nauseam and vilify anyone who doesn’t agree with them as unpatriotic. But the thing that strikes me as so different now than at any other in my lifetime is the way politicians behave; as if adhering strictly to their ideology is more important than governing or consensus building. In effect, they are silos of chaos. Little gets done, and it doesn’t seem to matter because they score points with their niche base and earn badges of honor for standing up for their ideology. The top priority becomes gaining or regaining power at the expense of the 99% of the rest of us who just want the country to function.

From mobile malware to social networking attacks, threats to your security and privacy will only grow in the coming year. Malicious hackers are on a mission to steal money and wreak havoc, and they’ll do it by any means possible. The growing number of mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, and the popularity of social networks give them new avenues in which to expand their cybercrime.

I went to put on an old favorite pair of jeans the other day. You know the kind: worn out, frayed and very comfortable. I bought them several years ago, and have worn them religiously. An odd thing happened when I pulled them up around my waist: they no longer fit. Much to my dismay, I had outgrown these size 32s. This experience, while making my wife laugh, got me to thinking “what else have I outgrown?”

Take my company’s computer equipment for instance...

Think about all the music, apps, books, movies and photos on your iPhone or iPad. Now think about what would happen if that device was permanently lost, stolen or broken.  That’s a scary thought for many people.  What’s even scarier is that lots of people have no idea how to back up that data to make certain it doesn’t get lost in the event of a catastrophe.  Recent studies suggest that half of all devices brought into Apple stores for repair have never been sync’d with their computer.

Do you use LinkedIn to help grow your business network? Many professionals use this  social networking site to connect to clients, employees, prospects and other business associates. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn has been considered more “business friendly" - perhaps until now.

Thanks to a recent change in their privacy policy, LinkedIn now has your permission to sell your name and contact information to advertisers.

Once upon a time, figuring out what was “cool enough” for Back to School was a scene carried out in dressing rooms of Aeropostale, Abercrombie & Fitch and other clothing stores. Every year there was a drama-fueled compromise over the outfit to be worn on school picture day, that was negotiated in exchange for a pair of designer jeans or Air Jordans.

After a lightning strike hit Amazon’s only European data center last week, causing a 4 day outage for many of its customers, we offer some valuable lessons learned for those venturing into the cloud.

The bad guys have just put on the brass knuckles! There is a new twist in the malware game which is being called a “bootkit”. Rather than just infecting your files, it replaces your entire operating system allowing the hacker to capture every keystroke you make!

This virus hides in an area of your hard drive called the “master boot record” (MBR) where it is difficult to detect and eradicate. It can even trick your antivirus software’s removal attempts into appearing successful though the infection will remain in place.

While many of us prefer to keep our home life separated from our work life (work George and home George cannot ever meet), there are definitely times when it would be convenient to be able to work while away from the office. Between bad weather, appointments, travel, illness, and other obligations, everyone needs to step away from work at some time. Thanks to the introduction of easy to use remote access software, it is now possible for just about anyone to quickly connect to their office computer and work just as if they were sitting in front of their pc at the office!

In a recent Connections article, Steve Brophy discussed the importance of having a social media policy for your business. Since then, we have had numerous inquiries from readers asking whether or not they should prevent access to Facebook and Twitter altogether.

We have looked at this approach and here is what we think your business should consider when trying to balance the risk of managing assets with keeping up with the latest social media marketing trends:

Apple Computer recently announced amnesty for the millions of people who may, heaven forbid, have illegally downloaded music on their computers. iTunes Match will allow you to keep all the songs that you have in your music library — even the ones that have been downloaded from, shall we say, less than legitimate sources, for the lowly price of $24.99/year!.

Have you ever known someone who has a penchant for saying questionable things at questionable times? Think about it – They’re often the people that proudly say “I just say it like I see it”.

Now consider this. Do any of the people mentioned above work for you or your company?

A colleague recently forwarded me an article in which Cisco published its networking forecast for the next 5 years . While most of these prognostications are fairly straight out of the box, there are a few interesting tidbits that will impact just about everybody!

Has this ever happened to you or someone you know? You’re sitting at your computer, updating your Facebook status, or doing research on the Internet when suddenly…BAM! An alert appears on your screen saying that you have a virus. This looks serious, so you click on the “Scan Now” button. Next thing you know your computer is completely unusable and somebody in China has just max’d out your credit card!

Virus creators have become very clever with the methods they are using to trick people into forfeiting their money and personal information.  A new breed of “Scareware” is designed to make people think that their computers are infected by displaying a fraudulent alert message. Once clicked on, the damage is done and can often be irreparable.

Are you “still” using Windows XP? If so, welcome to the club. Despite being replaced over four years ago - yes over four years ago - by two major Windows versions, XP is still the most widely used operating system in the world. This is a significant departure from the old days when (mainly techy) people would be lined up outside CompUSA waiting to buy the new version of Windows on the day it was released.

So why is there no stampede to rush out and switch over to the latest and greatest version of Windows? Perhaps it comes down to the age old question of why? [Insert cricket chirps here.]

If you have not heard yet (maybe you were sleeping) Microsoft last week purchased the Internet phone service Skype for a whopping $8.5Billion; making it the largest acquisition in Microsoft history. What does this purchase mean for current Skype users? The short answer: probably not much.

Research in Motion (RIM) will try to change the mobile device game with its new Playbook this week. This new Blackberry tablet, scheduled for release on April 19, takes square aim at its main competitors: the Apple iPad, Motorola Xoom and Dell Streak. This article is not a “side-by-side” comparison of these four systems (plenty of those articles available on the Internet). Rather, we are taking a look at if and how this device fits for the typical mobile professional.

Think you don’t need strong passwords on your network? Better think again!
Recently a local company’s email system was hacked and brought to its knees by a Spammer who was able to gain access to an email account. This was possible because the account’s owner was using their name as their password.

While the topic of password security is nothing new, there are still valuable lessons that businesses can learn!

Last month it was announced that AT&T will acquire T-Mobile in a deal that is being valued at 39 billion dollars.  If the purchase is approved, it will create the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. with well over 100 million customers.  Both companies stand to benefit greatly from the proposed deal; however the impact on customers and the wireless industry could be something of a double-edged sword.

The world of Internet browsers has heated up recently with all three of the top players releasing new versions. Will any of these updates make a difference in your browser choice? Perhaps now would be a good time to take a look at the options, especially if you are using Internet Explorer & Windows XP; and who says you have to use only one…

According to industry statistics, 70 percent of companies go out of business after a major data loss (Source, UK DTI). Disasters can range from natural damage (fire, flood) to server crashes, hardware failures, or even computer viruses.  The simple fact is that many small to medium size businesses do not have any plan in place to address such problems, or they do not take the time to test and update their plans.  Disaster Recovery (also called Business Continuity Planning) is a crucial component that businesses cannot afford to ignore, and with recent technology advances it is becoming much more affordable for small businesses to have an effective plan.

Your PC has been become a zombie! Infected with a virus, it is now part of a ‘botnet’ of thousands (or more) of other computers infected with the same malware. This virtual army is now at the control of the botmaster! Spymaster Joe Spampinato continues his investigation in to the motivation for creating malware.

“I’ll have a beer, two hot dogs and bottled water."

“That will be $32.00 please."

While paying $32.00 for a ballgame snack seems outrageous, soon how you will be able to pay for your ballgame feast may be even more shocking!

Ever get a virus on your PC and wonder out loud: "Who the $#&! makes these things!". Dorset Conencts' very own malware expert, Joe "The SPAMPINATOR" Spampinato tells you the answer.

Brendan McFarland explains how your business can save both time and money through server virtualization.

Verizon's iPhone is hitting the stores? Wondering whether you should make the switch from AT&T? Read on for some objective facts to help you make your decision.

We all know by now to never send personal information over the internet (always look for HTTPS:// in the web site address). Why not apply that same diligence to your email?

Dorset Connects’ IT Buddy has been reading the online blogs, researching the hottest trends and offers the following prognostications on what will be hot in 2011:

The Internet and airwaves are abuzz with companies offering to "speed up your PC" or return it to its original "fast" state. Brendan McFarland takes a look at some of these claims and lets you know whether they are worth the money.

Considering asking Santa to put an iPad under the Christmas tree this year? While the device certainly offers tons of features to benefit the typical Internet surfer, you may want to consider the following factors before deciding whether or not the iPad should be on your Business wish list:

All I hear these days are people telling me "hey you, get onto my cloud"! The media is packed with ads espousing the benefits of moving "to the cloud". The challenge for Business owners and decision makers is cutting through all the fog to determine if, how and when to move their organization in to this vast cloud.