Category It's Free!
 
If you've ever wished you could throw a PDF file into Word and start editing, you have probably been disappointed more than once. End your disappointment by checking out the PDFtoWord beta website. Choose a file to upload, select .DOC or .RTF (use .DOC, it seems to work best) and have PDFtoWord send a converted file to the email address of your choice.


I tested this out with a four-page beast; my PDF contained various text sizes, a logo, very small legal copy, footers, bold and italicized titles and even a four-column table! The output file I received looked amazingly similar to the original PDF: The font was matched throughout the document, the bolding was perfect, the table alignment was exact, all justification translated through and it even re- created the logo and embedded it as an image at the top of the document where it belonged! All text in the document was editable and the only errors were in two places where a space was not added between a comma and the following word (of course, this was underlined by Word as a grammatical mistake, so it was easy to fix). There are a select few services out there that really surprise me when I find out they are free; this is one of them. Go check it out!

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 3:28 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category Security Corner
 
With recent threats to our digital security like the Conficker worm, it is more important than ever to strengthen your network's defenses. There is a fantastic free service specifically designed to boost network security called OpenDNS; it is free and will protect you from many future attacks if you just take a moment to set it up. The OpenDNS website provides simple instructions for changing your DNS server on a single machine or router (so that the change affects ALL networked computers) and even includes a video tutorial. What does this accomplish? Making the change will cause your computer to go to an OpenDNS server to look up the domain names for the sites you visit instead of the DNS server provided by your ISP; the OpenDNS server has the ability to deny you access to known phishing and hacking sites. There is a content filter that will deny access to any type of questionable site you do not want your child visiting and the ability to report network traffic is built right in.


You may be asking yourself, "How is such a service free of charge?" Whenever you type in a domain name that doesn't exist (www.______.com), instead of a page error, you simply get a screen with some advertisements on it... not a bad trade-off to have a strengthened network if you ask me!

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 8:43 AM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category IT Talk
 
Just like an automobile, a computer requires regular cleanup and maintenance in order to continue performing as it should. As a part of our St. Bernard Managed Care service, these tasks are taken care of regularly, automatically and behind-the scenes. For those of you who are responsible for the well-being of your own machine, take a look at the following list of items to take care of on a fairly routine basis.

Nine Steps of a PC Tune-up:

1. Update Microsoft patches and Service Packs.
2. Verify your antivirus software is up to date and running properly.
3. Verify drive space availability.
4. Clear temp files and downloaded programs files.
5. Verify backup program / activity status. (Automated on Server Only)
6. Update web browser packs.
7. Clean & delete un-associated user files.
8. Schedule disk defrag. (Automated on Server Only)
9. Install and run adware and spyware removal software.

Visit our small business IT support website to learn what kind of coverage we can provide for you.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 2:21 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category Cool Stuff
 
If you are on the Verizon network and require a next-generation Blackberry with world-roaming capability, RIM has heard your prayers and delivered accordingly. Complete with a 3 megapixel camera, very well-reviewed GPS capability, Bluetooth and the classic Blackberry QWERTY keyboard, this phone has been proving itself to be one of the best smartphones available to both business and casual users. The Tour ships with a SIM card and it will automatically switch from the U.S. CDMA to a roaming network automatically when you leave the country; your phone number even remains the same. While the browser rating remains relatively low (as with most Blackberry devices), it has been improved significantly. 256MB of internal memory (twice the previous space), a stunning high-resolution screen, a re-invented media player and a slimmer design are just a few of the new features that keep blackberry users coming back for more. Take a look at the RIM website for more info and technical specs.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 12:01 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)