Channel MSP

How to help Moore Oklahoma Tornado Survivors

Herman Pool — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:55:27 +0000

Many of our clients and friends have been talking about how to help the victims of the Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. Here are some resources I have found on the Internet to assist those that wish to help.

Architecture For Humanity

Architecture for Humanity is in Moore and will assist in rebuilding.

Find out more: http://architectureforhumanity.org/updates/2013-05-21-rebuild-moore-media-assets-page

DonorsChoose For Teachers

DonorsChoose.org has a fund setup to help classrooms in Moore get back to normal. Donations through this link are sent directly to educators. They use this money to restock classrooms. http://help.donorschoose.org/app/answers/detail/a_id/428

Operation USA

Operation USA works with Oklahoma’s community clinics and hospitals to replace lost equipment and supplies. They also make grants to the public to help replace lost health resources. Medical facilities and missing medications need replacement. Find out more: http://www.opusa.org/

Save The Children

Save the Children deploys Child Friendly Space kits at shelters to make a safe and fun atmosphere for displaced kids. They also plan to deploy infant and toddler hygiene materials.

Donate online: https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6239051/k.FC4A/US_Emergencies_Fund/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp

Donate $10 via text: Text TWISTER to 20222

Now or Never Horse Helper

Now or Never Horse Helper needs volunteers who can foster surviving horses. Call 405-799-3276 or message the NNHH on their Facebook page.

The Animal Resource Center

The Animal Resource Center is helping displaced pets. They accepting donations through A New Leash on Life. http://newleashinc.org/ways-to-help/donate-to-new-leash-on-life/

Red Cross

The Oklahoma City Red Cross opened shelters while first responders are assessing the damage. They say the best way to help is donating to RedCross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999.

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army has a several emergency relief services setup in and near Moore, to dispense food, water and emotional support to first responders and survivors. Text STORM to 80888 to contribute $10 to the Salvation Army’s relief efforts, make a donation via phone at 1-800-SAL-ARMY, or visit https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org/uss/eds/aok

Samaritan’s Purse

Samaritan’s Purse sent staff to help people affected by the tornadoes. Go here to support the organization’s efforts http://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/donate-online/

Please share this page on social media. Also, if you know of any other organizations that need help, please list them below.

How to help Oklahoma Tornado Survivors

Herman Pool — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:50:23 +0000

Herman Pool / Vertical Axion

Architecture For Humanity

Architecture for Humanity is in Moore and will assist in rebuilding.

Find out more: http://architectureforhumanity.org/updates/2013-05-21-rebuild-moore-media-assets-page

DonorsChoose For Teachers

Operation USA

Save The Children

Save the Children deploys Child Friendly Space kits at shelters to make a safe and fun atmosphere for displaced kids. They also plan to deploy infant and toddler hygiene materials.

Donate online: https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6239051/k.FC4A/US_Emergencies_Fund/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp

Donate $10 via text: Text TWISTER to 20222

Now or Never Horse Helper

Now or Never Horse Helper needs volunteers who can foster surviving horses. Call 405-799-3276 or message the NNHH on their Facebook page.

The Animal Resource Center

The Animal Resource Center is helping displaced pets. They accepting donations through A New Leash on Life. http://newleashinc.org/ways-to-help/donate-to-new-leash-on-life/

Red Cross

The Oklahoma City Red Cross opened shelters while first responders are assessing the damage. They say the best way to help is donating to RedCross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999.

Salvation Army

Samaritan’s Purse

Samaritan’s Purse sent staff to help people affected by the tornadoes. Go here to support the organization’s efforts http://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/donate-online/

Channel Beat: Apple's Tax Practices Scrutinized

general — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:21:01 +0000

/ CRN

This week’s recap also looks at VMware’s big move into the hybrid cloud world and Huawei’s tough talk about the competition.
Read More

Zeus Malware Attacks Increase, Steals Account Credentials

general — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:01:50 +0000

/ CRN

A malware family used by financially motivated cybercriminals has steadily increased, according to data released by Trend Micro.
Read More

Lenovo Making the Most of the ‘PC Plus’ Era

general — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:02:29 +0000

Chris Gonsalves / Channelnomics

Every vendor is scrambling to lessen their dependence on PC sales. For the moment, at least, Lenovo just seems to be doing a better job of navigating the post-PC era with its mobile device initiatives coupled with efforts to branch out into servers and storage.
Read More

New bill looks to improve veterans’ transition into the IT sector

VAR_Staffing — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:30:55 +0000

VAR_Staffing / VAR Staffing

With Memorial Day just around the corner, it is the time of the year when many of us come together to enjoy family, friends and barbeque. However, it is also the time of year when we are supposed to take a minute to remember the veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country and ask how we can help those who are lucky enough to return. A new piece of legislation is not only looking to ease the veterans' transition back to society, but also close the IT skills gap at the same time.

Recently introduced by several Congressmen, including Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. Tim Kaine, D-Va. and Gus Bilriakis, R-Fla, the "Troop Talent Act of 2013" is designed to do meet three goals, which CompTIA summarized.

Improve the translation of military skill sets to the civilian workforce and help veterans obtain certifications and licenses that match their military occupational specialty
Reestablish a committee at the Department of Veteran Affairs that monitors the quality and validity of the credential process
Expand the Department of Defense pilot program on IT credentialing

"One of the challenges our service members face is how to match their professional military skills and technical training with civilian jobs," said Congressman Bilriakis on his blog. "As our veterans make the transition from the battlefield to civilian life, we must continue to make them a top priority and ensuring they are able to compete in today's technologically evolving economy is paramount."

Any move that can improve the lives of veterans while positively impacting the IT channel is something to get behind. To answer the hiring challenge, leading VARs and MSPs partner with VAR Staffing. We can help any IT solution provider find the impactful talent that it requires.

NGFW Boom Increasing Burden on Infosec Workers

general — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:00:58 +0000

Doug Woodburn / Channelnomics

The adoption of next-generation firewalls can come at detriment of the workload of IT security staff, according to research.
Read More

SOP Friday: Managing Temporary Files

Karl_Palachuk — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:57:37 +0000

Karl Palachuk / Karl Palachuk

We all know that there are dozens of programs and processes that drop temporary files on your machine – and every machine at every client. These include the operating system, emails, Internet browsing, office documents, and more.

There are basically three ways to address these files: 1) Ignore them; 2) Clean them moderately; 3) Clean them aggressively. Every company needs to decide which of these is best – and implement it consistently across all machines.

As a general rule, we expect programs to clean up after themselves. Some don’t, by design. Some don’t because they’re inefficient. Some clean up most but not all temp files. Some temp files you will never need, even if the program leaves them there in case you might. For example, Windows updates leave temporary files so you can un-install the updates and put old O.S. files back. But if you never plan to un-install the updates, you don’t need the temp files.

Internet cache files can take up a lot of disc space, depending on the browser version and how many users have profiles on a given machine. Office files create all kinds of temp files and are notoriously bad at cleaning them all up. Exchange streaming media files are supposed to be self-maintaining, but success depends on the Server version, Exchange version, and the backup system (which may or may not successfully mark files for deletion after they’ve been committed to the database and the database has been backed up).

etc.

Excess temp files take up disc space. But they’re like the laundry – you can never be rid of them. If you cleaned up every unnecessary temp file, more would appear instantly. Getting rid of *all* temp files is a futile effort. As a result, option three (clean them aggressively) is not worth the effort.

Too many temp files can eat up a lot of disc space. This affects performance and could eventually shut down your computer. To be honest, the only time I’ve actually seen this happen is with Exchange temp files. And back in the days of 2000 and 2003, I saw this more than once. So option one – ignore it – is also not an option.

We’re left with option two. But option two has a very broad range of options.

I recommend that you do a general clean-up on machines from time to time. This includes servers and workstations. Two great opportunities are when you’re cleaning up after a virus or when a client complains that their machine is slow.

I do *not* recommend that you do a regular (e.g., monthly) clean-up. This activity can take 15-30 minutes per machine and is 98% preventive maintenance. It will certainly speed up a machine and prevent problems, but if you put this much time into every machine every month, you will have a hard time staying profitable.

That means you should clean up a machine when it seems necessary or when there’s an opportunity that is convenient while doing another task on that machine.

Here are a few things to put on your standard “PC Clean-Up Process” for client machines:

Temporary Internet Files
For each browser,
- Delete Cookies
- Delete Temporary Internet Files
- In older Internet Explorer, make the file usage small: like 50 MB or 100 MB. If this is huge (1,000 Mb), it just takes more time to go get a page

Temporary Files and Folders
There are lots of places where Windows hides files “temporarily,” but sometimes forgets to go back and delete them. These actions will help. Reboot before you start this process and you will have more success.
- Search your hard drives (C: or C: and D:) for *.tmp
- – Delete everything it finds
- Go to c:temp and c:windowstemp and delete everything the computer will let you delete
- If you have Windows XP, go to the c:windowsprefetch directory and delete everything you find there.
- Empty the recycle bin

Note: Don’t waste a second trying to delete temp files that don’t delete easily the first time. They might be locked by a program or limited by permissions. Don’t fret it. Remember: Aggressive clean is not worth the effort.

Delete Acrobat temp files in:
“c:documents and settingsyourusernamelocal settingstemp” directory.

Acrobat can create up to 65,535 temporary files (0 KB each) named “Acr0000″ through “AcrFFFF”. Acrobat uses a 16 bit counter for the temporary file names and that this counter overflows, which causes the application to hang.

Disc Cleanup
Windows has a great little tune-up utility built in, called “Disk Cleanup.” To access it, go to Windows Explorer. Right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. On the properties page, click the Disk Cleanup button. Delete whatever it recommends.

Manage Restore Points
To create a restore point, go to Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Restore. More importantly, to manage the amount of disc space used by the System Restore application, go to Computer Properties | System Properties | Configure. Adjust the disc space usage to 10 GB or less. That should give you at least three restore points.

Databases and Line of Business Applications
Many databases and LOBs create temporary files. As a rule, you should learn the “documented” way to clean these up and don’t just start deleting things. Run the approved maintenance process.

Empty Recycle Bin

Reboot

Of course you need to determine the best cleanup process for your clients and the machines you manage. And don’t forget – you need to do enough cleanup to keep machines from getting bogged down, but not so much that you’re spending so much time on the task that you become unprofitable.

Comments welcome!

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About this Series

SOP Friday – or Standard Operating System Friday – is a series dedicated to helping small computer consulting firms develop the right processes and procedures to create a successful and profitable consulting business.

Find out more about the series, and view the complete “table of contents” for SOP Friday at SmallBizThoughts.com.

- – - – -

Next week’s topic: Casual Fridays (and Dress Codes Generally)

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Partner Tech's Launches New POS Display Solution

general — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:11:19 +0000

/ Business Solutions Magazine

Partner Tech, a POS hardware designer and manufacturer, has launched a bezel-free display solution for everyday retail needs, the PM-15-BZ. Designed specifically for the POS industry, the PM-15-BZ provides of ease of use in operations through its multitude of industry-specific features.
Read More

Samsung To Be Platinum Sponsor Of Stadium And Arena One2One Summit

general — Fri, 24 May 2013 06:05:52 +0000

/ Business Solutions Magazine

Following their successful marketing events for the AEC (architects, engineers, consultants) community at ISC West, Samsung Techwin is announcing their participation as a platinum sponsor of Reed Exhibitions’ Stadium and Arena one2one Summit.
Read More