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We all wish that we had a personal assistant who would manage all aspects of our lives. Wouldn’t it be great to have someone who would order your Uber rides while telling you about the newest and greatest restaurant in your area? And wouldn’t it be even better if that assistant didn’t require breaks, a salary or awkward ‘how was your weekend’ conversations? All of this is now possible with the creation of Alexa. Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant, developed by Amazon. This device is capable of voice interaction, music playback, and so much more.

The only requirement of Alexa is a wake-word. A wake-word is a multi-syllabic word or phrase that Alexa listens for and prompts your device to take action. The wake-word can be “Alexa, Amazon, or even Computer”, so you will have to talk to her at times- though this is nothing when compared to the long-winded conversations your assistant may be roping you into. Since Alexa has become a much-desired tech device, an increasing number of individuals are turning to Alexa to take care of everyday tasks. Alexa’s capabilities mean less work for you, and more time that you can spend enjoying the various gifts, Alexa has to offer.

Alexa can do things like:

Give Short Answer Information

Some would consider Alexa, a cousin to Siri. With their similar abilities and robot-humanoid voices, it’s easy to see why- thus lumping Alexa into a category that it far exceeds. Alexa can access information ranging from Wikipedia to spell-check, and grouping it with Siri is discrediting its abilities.

Alexa can also perform calculations, conversions, and measurements. Since Alexa has not been around for long, the fact that it offers so many useful features including advanced mathematics capabilities along with the ability to answer questions is worth mentioning. Alexa can answer questions regarding anything ranging from the founding date of your favorite partner company to where you can get a cleaning service for your office; it is exciting to think about what possible future advancements Alexa might have.

Set Timers, Alarms and Reminders

You can use your voice to set and cancel alarms, timers or reminders with Alexa. To use, just tell Alexa to set the alarm, timer or reminder. When setting up an alarm say, ‘Alexa, create an alarm.’ Alexa will then ask what time you would like the alarm. When the alarm goes off, you can say ‘stop’ to stop the alarm or say ‘snooze’ for an additional 10 minutes.

If you are creating a timer, say, ‘Alexa create a timer for 10 minutes’ or however long you would like the timer to be. After setting the timer, you can inquire about how much time is left before the allotted amount of time has passed, or stop, cancel or resume the timer.

To set up a reminder through Alexa, begin by saying ‘Alexa, create a reminder.’ You can then tell Alexa what you need reminding of and when you would like the reminder. For example, ‘Alexa, create a reminder for a 9:00am business meeting Monday’. You can also ask Alexa about what reminders you have for tomorrow or the upcoming week, to keep track of events and stay organized.

Purchase Supplies

Since Alexa is part of the Amazon family, this device can order whatever you need from the website at the slightest mention. You can make purchases, add items to your cart and even search for new items you may want to buy. Alexa can even tell you about deals that are going on.

The have Alexa make a purchase or add an item to your cart, say, “Alexa, order printing paper,” or “Alexa, add printing paper to my cart.” Alexa can reorder items you have previously purchased, to ensure you are receiving the product you require.

Make Lists

To make a list, you just need to say, ‘Alexa, create a list.’ Your device will then prompt you to name the list, which helps keep things organized in the long run. The ability to name your lists means that you can have shopping lists for specific stores or to-do lists for businesses or locations.

The lists will also be available for review in the Alexa companion app. In the hectic lives many of us live, this feature provides some stability. Since Alexa is not most peoples first choice for list-making, users also have the option of syncing to third-party apps that are more frequent.

Keep Your Calendar

The Alexa calendar can help you keep track of upcoming events, or add events as needed. It is also compatible with Office 365 Cloud or Outlook calendars. However, you can only link one calendar per device.

To review events you may have coming up, ask Alexa ‘What’s on my calendar’? You can make this specific by adding a time and date to the question. You can also schedule events with other people. To do this, tell your device to ‘Schedule a meeting with Joe Smith.’ There are options besides scheduling a meeting of course. It can be lunch, a phone call, or any event you might need.

Provide News and Traffic Updates

It is important to stay up-to-date on events happening in your community or around the world. Not many of us set aside time during the day to catch up on the news, and with Alexa, you don’t have to. Alexa can give you updates on news, weather, traffic, sports and more. Just ask.

Say, ‘Alexa, what’s in the news’ to receive headlines. Say, ‘What does the traffic look like,’ to get information regarding the roads and any alternate routes you might want to consider taking. Alexa helps you out in various ways, and this is just one of them. Your device wants you to make it work on time, and it is prepared to help you do so.

Do Your Banking

Most banks now offer a mobile app which helps you manage your money on the go. It makes sense that this process would get even easier with the help of Alexa. Several banks are now offering Alexa enabled skills including Capital One and American Express. To use the banking features on your device simply enable actions by saying ‘Enable Capitol One skill.’

You can then check your account balance or even pay bills through your Alexa. You must first set up your financial account information with Alexa using the companion app. Selects ‘skills’ from the list and search for your bank. Then, enable the skill and enter your bank information. You also have the option of setting up a personal key to keeping your information secure. After following these steps, you can access your information via the Alexa device.

Give You a Weather Update

To get weather updates, you must first enter your location in the companion app. You can get a seven-day forecast for your location through the companion app, or just ask your device ‘What’s the weather?’ Alexa can also give you weather updates for other locations, just make sure to include the day and location in your request.

You can configure your device to give you updates in either Celsius or Fahrenheit by changing your ecobee4 settings. These settings are in the settings portion of the Alexa app. You can select ‘device’ from here and then select your ecobee4.

Make Calls

Perhaps one of the most useful tools is Alexa’s ability to make and receive calls. Alexa offers free calls to any landline or mobile number in the U.S, Mexico, and Canada. Alexa offers hands-free calling and text. Alexa even works with emergency numbers like 911.

When you are placing or receiving a call the Alexa light ring will turn green. If you have a message waiting, the light will be yellow. To use this feature, you need to make sure you grant Alexa access to your contacts via the companion app. From here you can ask Alexa to make calls, the same way you would ask a personal assistant.

Tell You What’s Nearby

If you’re looking for information on nearby restaurants or businesses Alexa has all the answers. You just need to ask Alexa, ‘What restaurants are nearby,’ for information about local places to grab a bite with clients or potential business partners. Furthermore, Alexa can give you information about operating hours and menu listings, in case any of your clients have allergies.

Just make sure your device is set up with your location to ensure you are receiving accurate information. You can also view information about local businesses on the app, which will also link you to Yelp to ensure your satisfaction.

Potentially every Intel processor sold in the last 10 years could have a critical security vulnerability that puts users at severe risk.

It’s often these days that poor IT security comes down to something like human error, and lack of awareness on the users’ part. It’s less often that there’s a widespread design flaw discovered in the technology itself, which is exactly what happened with Intel this week.

The Register published an article this week detailing how every Intel processor produced over the course of the last decade is affected by a design flaw that would allow malicious programs to access and read what should otherwise be protected areas of a device’s kernel memory. Kernel memory is dedicated to essential core components of an operating system and how they interact with the hardware.

What does this mean for Intel users? This flaw could allow cybercriminals to access valuable and sensitive information like passwords. It’s possible that something as simple as JavaScript on a webpage, or cloud-hosted malware could penetrate the most interior levels of an Intel-based device.

Even worse, a foundational flaw like this can’t be patched with a simple, everyday update – the problem is in the hardware, which means it needs an OS-level overwrite for every single operating system (Windows, Linux, and macOS).

In a statement released January 3^rd, Intel claimed that this flaw isn’t necessarily unique to their processers.

“Recent reports that these exploits are caused by a “bug” or a “flaw” and are unique to Intel products are incorrect. Based on the analysis to date, many types of computing devices — with many different vendors’ processors and operating systems — are susceptible to these exploits.”

According to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, Intel was informed about the security flaw by Google a few months ago. Although the extent of this flaw isn’t fully known to the public right now, it appears that developers are working hard to patch systems over the course of the next few weeks.

That said, the patching process won’t be easy, given that it will involve severing kernel memory from user processes. In a nutshell, that means users will face major performance lags, anywhere from 5 – 30%, depending on the specifics of the device.

The fix works by moving the kernel to a totally separate address space, making it nonexistent — and therefore, inaccessible — to a running process. Unfortunately, this separation process takes a lot of time to perform, as it forces the processor to dump cached data and reload from memory every time it switches between two separate addresses. The end result is an increase in the kernel’s overhead and a slower computer.

While it may not be noticeable for the average user on their home PC, this kind of lag will likely affect businesses using enterprise-grade cloud configurations the most. Be sure to keep an eye on this developing issue in order to ensure your Intel-based devices are properly patched.

As always, the best way to stay aware of threats like this, as well as protect against them, is to work with an expert partner. Our team of cybersecurity professionals will help you stay ahead of exposed vulnerabilities like these so that you can remain safe and focus on the work your business does.

We’ve all heard the words “net neutrality” bouncing around for the past few months. Many of us have no idea what this term means, even though we benefit from them every day. Here is what you need to know about this important topic.

When you go on the internet you are first brought to your home page of your chosen search engine. For some people this home page is Bing, for others, Yahoo, for still others it is Google. From this starting point, you can go anywhere. If you are looking for a particular site, all you must do is type the address in and away you go. If you are looking for certain information, but don’t know exactly where to find it, all you must do is type in what you want to know more about and your search engine will bring you all results about that topic. Your internet service provider can’t decide which results to give you, so you end up being able to see all results available on the web. With the ending of net neutrality, this internet as we know it may come to an end.

What is Net Neutrality?

The phrase “net neutrality” basically means that all websites on the internet are treated the same by your internet service provider. They can’t discriminate against sites based on popularity, type, or any other factor. Meaning if you have CenturyLink as a provider, they are not allowed to block any sites from you or allowed to slow down services to certain sites. All websites get the same treatment across the board, regardless of their content or popularity.

For example, my internet service provider loads YouTube at the same speed that it loads Netflix. It doesn’t discriminate against the site in any way.

How does this affect me?

This is important because if internet service providers can change the way their service is provided to different sites this could mean your monthly billing would be set up similarly to a cable TV package. Certain packages could charge more for certain sites based on popularity (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat, YouTube).

Another possibility is packages could be set up based on the type of website. For example, one Internet service company in Portugal has packages for social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, messenger, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snap Chat, and Twitter), for video (YouTube, Netflix), for music (Pandora, Sound Cloud) for email and cloud services (Gmail, google drive, yahoo, Hotmail, drop box), and for messaging (skype, kik, video messaging, and other internet based texting services). Each of these packages costs €4.99 or about $5.91.

This means that if I, an average internet user, wanted to access all the websites that I typically do every month I would have to pay for each of these packages because I use websites from all of them on a regular basis.

Why is This Only Now Becoming an Issue?

The Federal Communications Commission are the ones responsible for pushing the vote, which is set for December 14^th of this year. Thus, the media is covering more and more of the story closer to the vote. It is very possible that the media would never have covered the story if it weren’t for the huge public outcry over the issue. A group of 28 senators headed by Senator Maggie Hanssen has written the FCC a letter asking for them to delay the vote until they can properly examine the document and gain a full understanding of the vote.

Who Benefits?

The short answer is internet service providers such as Comcast, Verizon, and CenturyLink stand to gain the most because under the new rules they would be permitted to charge their customers more for different internet packages.

What Other Countries Don’t Have Net Neutrality?

Many countries lack net neutrality. One example is Portugal. Their model could be like what would happen here in the U.S., with different packages and extra data costing more. If you want social media, it would cost a fee. If you want video streaming, that would cost another fee. This could happen with every type of application or website and end up costing quite a bit if you use multiple types of sites. Other countries without net neutrality include China, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Egypt, Venezuela, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The degree of restriction varies from country to country. Some places, like China, have government blocks on many popular websites such as YouTube, Gmail, Instagram, Pinterest, and more. China also has a very extensive government presence on what websites are not blocked to monitor public opinion current events. There are also many more countries that have partial net neutrality, or very minor regulations on their internet, Such as India.

Conclusion

The internet is hands-down humanity’s best invention. What makes it great is that all content and information is treated equally. It is the only source in the world that allows you to access any information from anywhere at any time. The ending of net neutrality would end the open internet as we know it. To mar the best invention humanity has ever created with more regulation and pay-for-services would be a great detriment to society.

Ransomware is now a household name, and there’s no going back. Even though cybercriminals have been using ransomware for years now, it wasn’t until the global WannaCry attack that awareness reached critical mass.

Doctors and nurses went to work as usual last May in the UK’s Central Manchester University Hospital, but when they went to turn on their computers, all computer systems began crashing. Messages began to pop up on their computer screens demanding $300 in Bitcoin in exchange for restored access – the WannaCry ransomware had struck.

Targeted Manchester hospitals claimed that no patient info was compromised, but they did have to suspend services. The BBC reported that other hospitals in London, Nottingham, Hertfordshire, and Blackburn had also been attacked and that some phone systems went down for a period of time. Doctors and nurses were forced to use pens and paper to keep track of patient information. Once medical organizations across the UK had realized what was happening, some of them disconnected from servers at the National Health Service to try and avoid being attacked.

Exploiting Microsoft’s Operating System

This is just one of the many stories that have unfolded over the last year where large organizations were targeted with one of the largest ransomware attacks in history, named “WannaCry”. Though experts did not know this at the time, WannaCry is a ransomware cryptoworm developed by North Korea and aimed at Microsoft operating systems.

Though it seems unbelievable, there have now been more than 100 attacks like this across 150 countries just this past year. Most anti-virus software makers have scrambled to get ahead of these attacks. Once Microsoft’s experts had found that the attacks took advantage of a Windows vulnerability, they quickly released patches for computers running all versions of the operating system, including older versions such as Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 8.

Kurt Baumgartner, at the security firm Kaspersky Lab, explained how effective and how quickly WannaCry ransomware can strike.

“Affected machines have six hours to pay up and every few hours the ransom goes up,” said Baumgartner. “Most folks that have paid up appear to have paid the initial $300 in the first few hours.”

Other experts in the field of Cyber Security found evidence that these attacks were made using a variation of the malware called, “Wanna Decryptor”. This program is a Trojan virus that utilizes AES-128 encryption to make all files inaccessible to users.

Though many of the ransomware attacks were launched against the UK, Russia, Taiwan, and Ukraine, global firms like FedEx have come under assault as well. Officials from Europol said that the attacks were of an “unprecedented level and require international investigation.”

Meanwhile, China reported a massive attack against PetroChina that took some time to resolve; as a result, customers were forced to pay cash at all PetroChina gas stations until the ransom had been paid.

Spain also reported an attack against Telefónica, a large telecom organization. Their experts were able to determine that the attacks were spread through a vulnerability called “EternalBlue.” Their IT department quickly created a patch to prevent the bug from spreading.

Controlled Folder Access For Windows 10

All of these attacks were launched against Windows-based systems, leaving IT security experts at Microsoft to take quick action to develop and release patches and other tools to stop cybercriminals. The fall updates to Windows 10 included many new improvements aimed at providing a much higher level of protection. One of these, known as Windows 10 FCU, has proven especially useful. Also known as Controlled Folder Access, this update protects files and folders from ransomware attacks using a simple methodology.

The exploit is based on the fact that most Windows programs have access to all files and folders on a computer system, which made it much too easy for hackers to gain access to those files and wreak havoc. Unrestricted access to files and folders might be convenient for users, but it opens the door to virus and ransomware attacks.

Customizing Your Operating System

Though many users are not aware, Windows gives you the ability to greatly customize your operating system, including the capability to take action to protect your data from hackers. Using Controlled Folder Access, you can modify access to your important data, so that these files are given an extra layer of protection. If any program tries to modify files that have been placed in the “protected folder”, they will be blocked. This feature is found in Windows Defender.

Follow these steps to enable Controlled Folder Access on your computer:

1. Type Windows Defender in your start menu. This opens the Windows Defender Security System.
2. Navigate to the left panel and find Virus and Threat Protection. If it isn’t listed there on the left, then type “virus and threat protection” in the settings search box at the top left.
3. Click on Virus and Threat Protection Settings. This may appear in a new dialog box or on the right side of the Virus and Threat Protection page.
4. Scroll down and find “Controlled Folder Access”. Toggle the button to “On”. This enables the Controlled Folder Access feature.

Granting manual access to programs

The most significant drawback to using this feature is that some of your favorite apps or programs may be blocked. The solution is simple: Manually grant access for these programs. Just below the toggle button, you’ll find a link called, “Allow an app through Controlled folder access”. Click on that and a new dialog box appears. Now click the “Plus” sign out beside “Add an allowed app”.

The familiar “Open a File” window on your computer will automatically open, giving you the ability to click on whatever file, folder or program you would like to exclude. Navigate to the EXE file and then click on “Open”. You have successfully added this program to your exclusions list.

This works for all your favorite programs like Photoshop, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and Quickbooks. Please note that Windows has its own list of “safe” programs that are already included, so there’s no need to grant manual access to programs like Excel and Publisher.

For more information about the latest IT security threats and how to protect you and your business against them, get in touch with our team of cyber security experts.

How many emails do most business people send each day? Email is the most popular form of business communication and it’s going to increase according to the 2014-2018 Email Statistics Report, by The Radicati Group.

Here are some interesting statistics highlighted in the Report:

• The average number of business-related emails both sent and received will rise from 121 each day today, to at least 140 each day in 2018.
• Workers receive an extra 13 emails a day on average now than in 2011.
• By 2018, 97 emails will hit inboxes each day, at an average of 12 emails every working hour.
• It’s expected that 43 emails will be sent each day, at an average of five an hour, or one about every 10 minutes.

And, if you do email marketing add a lot more to these numbers. Sending emails can take up a lot of time and be really frustrating if you have to go searching for hidden commands buried in mouse clicks, buttons and tabs. That is unless you customize the Ribbon Bar in Outlook 2016. When you place the commands that you use most often in the Ribbon Bar, you can save time and increase your productivity.

Before you begin, make sure the Ribbon is displayed. The Ribbon in Outlook 2016 is hidden by default to give you more vertical space, so you’ll want to change this. Here you can see that the Ribbon Bar is missing:

To show the Ribbon, click on View. You’ll see a little pin in the upper right. Click it and now your Ribbon will always show in Outlook (unless you decide to hide it again.)

You can personalize your Ribbon to order the tabs and commands the way you want them. You can also hide those that you don’t use often. For some basic directions on customizing tabs on your Ribbon click here. We’re going to go into more detail below.

Note that when you customize your ribbon in Outlook, these changes won’t be visible in Excel or PowerPoint. If you want to make the same customizations in your other Office applications, you must open each of them to make the same changes.

Let’s say you use email forms all the time in your communications. There’s a command for this that you can add to your Ribbon Bar: Open Outlook and click on the File tab.

On the Sidebar to the left of your screen, click Options.

In the Options window, click Customize Ribbon.

In the Customize Window, highlight Home Mail tab.

Next, click the New Group button at the bottom of the window.

The New Group option will appear.

To reorder where the New Group option appears, left-click it and drag it into the position you want.

If you prefer, you can rename this option so it’s more descriptive. Highlight the option by left-clicking your mouse and click Rename.

You’ll be presented with a number of options, in the Display Field enter the new name for your option.

Click OK and your option will be renamed.

Now it’s time to add the command to the new button. Go to the Choose Commands dropdown menu.

Select All Commands.

Next, scroll down until you find the Choose Forms command.

Make sure the custom button you created is highlighted.

Click the Add button.

The Choose Form command now appears under the new button you created.

If you want to create a custom icon for your new command, open Form Email.

Next, click on the Choose Form option, and click Rename.

Highlight the icon you like and hit OK.

Click OK to close the window and try out your new Choose Form button on the Ribbon Bar.

Your Choose Form window opens and you can select the template you want.

Highlight the Email Form you want to send and select OK.

Up pops your new template ready to write and send!

Want to Add a Command to a Custom Group? Here’s How:

Say you want to put the Spelling & Grammar command in its own group on the Message tab.

• Open a new email.
• Go to File> Options> Customize Ribbon
• In the list on the right, verify that a “New Mail Message” is expanded and select the Clipboard Group.
• Click the New Group button at the bottom.
• With “New Group (custom)” selected, click Rename, and key in a name for the group.
• From the list on the left, select the Spelling & Grammar command.
• (If the command that you want isn’t here, use the “Choose commands from” dropdown list at the to: All Commands.) Click Add.
• Press OK and your command should show up on the default Message tab when you compose a message.

Now, Let’s Add a Command to a Pre-Defined Group:

We’ll add the Print Command to the “Move” Group on the Home Tab.

• Select File> Options> Customize Ribbon
• In the list on the right, make sure that Home (Mail) is expanded and select Move group.
• Click New Group at the bottom.
• With New Group (custom) selected, click Rename and give the group a name. An example might be “Move & Print”.
• From the list on the right, select Print.
  • If the command that you want doesn’t show in this list, use the “Choose commands from” dropdown list at the top: All Commands.
  • There’s also a “Quick Print” command which immediately sends the selected message to your default printer without any additional prompts for settings.
• Press the Add >> button.
• Set the “Choose commands from” dropdown list to: All Tabs
• Open the list at the bottom until you see the group that you’re editing. Make sure you also expand this group.
• On the right, verify that your newly created group “Move & Print” is selected.
• Add all the commands that you wish to keep from this pre-defined group to your newly created group by clicking the Add >> button.
• Now, select the pre-defined “Move” group and click the << Remove button.
• Click OK to close the dialog box.
• Your command should now show up on the default Main tab of Outlook within the “Move & Print group.

Now, no more searching for commands in Outlook 2016 when you need them. Follow the same processes with other commands you use most often. Doing this will save you so much time in the future. You can also do this with the Ribbon for other Microsoft products like Excel, Word and Powerpoint.

There are a lot more ways you can customize your Microsoft Outlook and other Office products. The experts at Intelice Solutions will be happy to share them with you. Simply contact us at:

Phone: 301-664-6800
E-mail: [email protected]

If you run a business, chances are that you’ve thought about moving to an online productivity suite. The two most popular in recent years is Google’s G Suite and Microsoft’s Office 365. Touted as “innovative” and “the next big thing,” Microsoft’s productivity suite is a revolutionary concept when it comes to operating systems and computing. But why should you choose Microsoft over the other guys?

Because:

• It’s cloud-based. Doing all your computing in the cloud means that you always have access to your files as long as you’re connected to the Internet. All of Office 365’s tools will work on any PC/Mac, tablet, or smartphone. With O365, you can use the online versions of the productivity suite, or install them to your device.
•  It’s secure. Whether you’re using the version of O365 installed on your machine, or the cloud version, you’ll get the best level of security and encryption. The same set of Rights Management Services applies to both. None of your files can be accessed without the proper user credentials that are set up and monitored by Microsoft Azure. This provides the best security and control over your Office 365 data.
• Data is backed up. Microsoft’s Office 365 offers its own form of checks and balances, 24/7 support that’s always on-call, and OneDrive to store all your files. But it’s always a good idea to have an extra layer of protection by using a Managed Services Provider (MSP) who can monitor your backups and add an extra layer of security if your data is compromised or lost.

Office 365 offers major advantages over others. As with anything worth doing, there are pros and cons when moving your operations to the cloud. However, there are some major advantages when using the Microsoft Cloud:

• You can work anywhere. If you have an internet connection, you can use your data from anywhere and on any device. You can check emails, access files, and work on a project all from the same place – even if that place happens to be the other side of the world.
• Easy collaboration between coworkers. How many times have you had multiple people working together on the same project only to have one version go missing. With Office 365 you can avoid this. Collaborators can work on the same file and get changes in real time. You can also share files as links right from OneDrive, rather than as attachments.
• Access to the latest versions of programs. Imagine having access to the most current versions of Word, Excel, and Outlook without having to pay extra or reinstall programs. All the most recent versions of everything in the Microsoft Office Suite are available with an Office 365 subscription.
• Great security features. How secure the Cloud is for you depends on what security measures you have in place. With Office 365, there are quite a few built-in security features to keep your data safe. These include:
• Encrypted email. Only the intended recipient can read an email.
• Data loss prevention. O365 checks and ensures that sensitive data (like your social security number) doesn’t get sent out via email.
• Mobile device management. You can control Office 365 on your employees’ phones, and protect company information.
• Advanced threat analytics. O365 learns and protects company data, and alerts you of suspicious activity on the network.

Alongside all the advantages of using Office 365, there are also a few cons:

• Subscription-based model. You must pay a monthly or annual subscription for your Office 365.
• If the Internet is down, your data is down. Because Office 365 is cloud-based, if the Internet goes out, you could be without access to your data. Plus, if you have a slow connection, working with a cloud-based system isn’t ideal.
• Most people don’t use all of its features. Most users don’t use everything that Office 365 has to offer. They only use email, file storage, and access to Office programs. This isn’t a terrible thing, but it means you’re paying for features that you aren’t using.
• Microsoft throws in some great extras. Office 365 comes with 1TB of storage space in Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service, free web hosting and the tools to use it, and a full 60 minutes of Skype each month for making landline calls.

Microsoft Office 365 is a very good example of not only what a cloud service can be, but what more businesses are turning to for their cloud needs. Cloud computing is becoming a big part of more companies’ tech strategy, and Office 365 is an excellent way to jump into the cloud.

Our IT experts can walk you through your Office 365 set up. Give InfiNet Solutions a call at (402) 895--5777, or email us at [email protected], and we’ll make sure you get the full benefit of this great service.   

We like tech, it’s what we do. As the holiday shopping season kicks into overdrive, we are bringing you 12 of the most requested, most wanted tech gifts for 2017. Check back each business day between now and December 19^th for another must-have tech item and why you should check it out.

In 2015 Sphero released their app-connected robot, BB-8, to tie-in with Star Wars The Force Awakens. Now, with this year’s release of The Last Jedi, Sphero has done it again with two new droids, R2-D2 and BB-9E. R2, of course, moves on treads and can move sideways if wanted or he can bring out his third leg and use it to lean back and navigate tougher terrain like carpeting.

R2’s head turns, and he has plenty of lights and sounds from built-in speakers, something BB-8 didn’t have. You can draw a path with your finger on the app and R2 will follow it. There’s also a button to have R2 “flip out” so to speak, where he shakes and makes noise before falling over.

Like its droid brothers, the BB-9E droid uses the same app as the other two and can be controlled via app or voice commands. The three droids are in scale with each other and 12-inch action figures.

Sphero is planning to add new ways for the droids to interact with each other and their surroundings. Right now, you can have them watch Rogue One or The Force Awakens, and the droids will react at certain points thanks to scripted points in the movies and the app listens for these cues to cause the droids reactions.

If you’ve got a Star Wars fan on your list this Christmas, no doubt they’ve already got these little guys on their list. At just $180 for R2-D2 and $150 for BB-9E, they are affordable enough to get both…assuming you can find one. As is the case with most items on our list of Top 12 Tech Gifts, these droids are in short supply but revered by Star Wars fans all over.

Happy Holidays and good luck on the tech hunt from all of us here at InfiNet Solutions.

We like tech, it’s what we do. As the holiday shopping season kicks into overdrive, we are bringing you 12 of the most requested, most wanted tech gifts for 2017. Check back each business day between now and December 19^th for another must-have tech item and why you should check it out.

If you’re anything like most Americans, you want the latest and greatest tech but can’t always afford it. TV’s for instance. You want to experience this new 4K technology that everyone is talking about but there is no way you can afford $3,000 for a TV. Never fear, there is an alternative.

The TCL S405 49” 4K HDR TV proves you don’t need to break the bank to experience 4K. Offering similar picture quality and brightness to the Samsung Q7F, the TCL offers fewer levels of lag than the pricier Samsung and comes with Roku TV! You can play Gears of War 4 in 4K or stream Netflix in stunning 4K resolution. All this will run you $360 for the 49” model, and upwards of $800 for the 65”.

It doesn’t sport a hub for your HDMI like the Samsung Q7F, but it does have three HDMI ports and a single USB on the rear side. Still, I’d gladly sacrifice a port or two if it meant saving thousands of dollars. Not only does it save you money, but now you have enough to get that new iPhone, right?

Happy Holidays and good luck on the tech hunt from all of us here at InfiNet Solutions!

We like tech, it’s what we do. As the holiday shopping season kicks into overdrive, we are bringing you 12 of the most requested, most wanted tech gifts for 2017. Check back each business day between now and December 19^th for another must-have tech item and why you should check it out.

If the new iPhone seems a bit pricey for you, don’t worry. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ offer similar technology but with a cheaper price tag. Much like its competition, the S8 offers a 5.8-inch display, but unlike that other phone, it curves around the edges of the phone producing the first true infinity screen on a smartphone.

The phone does 4K video, has a 12MP rear camera (8MP on the front), uses facial recognition to unlock, is water and dust resistant, and charges wirelessly. All features that the iPhone X sports. But unlike the iPhone, the S8 can expand its memory from 64GB to 256GB via memory cards, allows multiple windows so that you can multitask (text while watching a movie?), and contains a headphone jack. Also, you aren’t restricted to one method of unlocking. There is also a fingerprint scanner and the use of a PIN.

The biggest difference here is that the S8 comes in a bigger model, the Galaxy S8+ which has a 6.2-inch screen for only a few dollars more. Both versions make use of Samsung’s new Bixby AI, their answer to Siri that learns from you and can do things like translate languages and point out landmarks when taking photos.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 will run you $750 for 64GB (upgradeable to 256GB via the memory card) while the S8+ runs $840. Both versions come in Arctic Silver, Orchid Gray, and Midnight Black.

Happy Holidays and good luck on the tech hunt from all of us here at InfiNet Solutions!

We like tech, it’s what we do. As the holiday shopping season kicks into overdrive, we are bringing you 12 of the most requested, most wanted tech gifts for 2017. Check back each business day between now and December 19^th for another must-have tech item and why you should check it out.

This USB drive has connectors for both USB-A and USB-C, to make it simpler for transferring data between computers and even some newer Android phones with USB-C. Laptops, Android phones, Macs, and PCs are all utilizing the USB-C connection. With this, there’s no need to worry which type of flash drive you have.

The Dual Drive comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB sizes. The 32GB can be found for less than $20, while the bigger sizes will run you a bit more money.

Happy Holidays and good luck on the tech hunt from all of us here at InfiNet Solutions!