How to Move Your Business to Cloud Computing

Make your workflow easier and more efficient with web-based computing.

From PCWorld
May 07, 2010
Editor's note: Adam Pash is a technology guru and the editor-in-chief of Lifehacker, a popular website that focuses on technology, productivity and making your life easier with your computer.
The internet has changed the way people do nearly everything--from consuming media to performing research to maintaining relationships to communicating. Its effect on business has been similarly wide ranging. And today, for mission-critical data, internet-based computing--aka cloud computing--is introducing major changes to the way work is done.

Whether you're ready to move your business operations to the cloud full time or just want to dip a toe in the water vapor, cloud integration offers significant benefits. Specifically:
•You have access to data that lives in the cloud from any PC, regardless of where you are. All you need is a connection to the internet and a web browser.

•For data in the cloud, companies like Google provide offsite data redundancy that's stronger than the backups most business users have in place. If your hard drive crashes or if your computer vanishes, you don't need to worry that your data has gone missing with it.

With the right tools, you can have your data in the cloud in no time--and it will still play nicely with your desktop, laptop, or smartphone.

Don't Make Me Ditch Microsoft Office!

The internet has certainly changed the way people work, but desktop applications continue to outperform the web on a number of fronts--especially in the business world. Fortunately, you can take advantage of the cloud without ditching desktop apps altogether. With the right tools and know-how, you can pair your significant business apps and data with the web to keep everything in sync, accessible from any browser and backed up to the cloud. Note: There are more options for syncing data to the cloud than we can highlight in one article. Our focus here is on some of the most popular and trustworthy options--and in general, that means a large number of Google applications.

Microsoft Office Live

Since businesses tend to create lots of documents, spreadsheets and presentations, you probably use Microsoft Office regularly. Most web alternatives still haven't come close to matching the power of the Microsoft Office suite. But you do have a couple of good options for integrating the most popular Office apps with the web.

Microsoft's own Office Live Workspace service works with Word, Excel and PowerPoint; it aims to eliminate your need to carry a thumb drive, by letting you to store any of the three types of Office documents on the Live Workspace website.

When you save a document to Live Workspace, you can view it from any browser, share it with other people in your workspace and edit it on your desktop with Microsoft Office. The files are stored online on Microsoft's servers, but you can open, edit and save them with your desktop Office applications just as though they're on your hard drive.
To get started with Live Workspace on your desktop, download Microsoft's Office Live Update for Office.

Google Docs

If you prefer Google Docs (Google's suite of online office applications) to Live Workspace, a couple of tools can help you sync your desktop Office apps with Google Docs.

The first, Memeo Connect, syncs any document between your desktop and Google Docs. You can choose to edit the documents locally in Office or online in Google Docs; either way, Memeo Connect will keep your local Office documents constantly in sync with Google Docs
If you do a lot of collaboration, a better option may be OffiSync. Once installed, OffiSync works much like Memeo Connect, allowing you to view and edit any document on your desktop or within Google Docs.

OffiSync pays a little more attention to collaboration, so users can work on the same document at the same time, and any changes that one user saves will instantly merge with the version of the document that the other user has open.

A Calendar in the Cloud

A desktop calendar helps you schedule your appointments, remember important events and keep your life in order--as long as you're in front of your PC.

A calendar that syncs to the cloud ensures that you'll always have access to your schedule. It can sync wirelessly to your smartphone and will keep your entire schedule flawlessly in sync.

To handle the job, look no further than Google Calendar and the Google Calendar Sync plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. Once installed, the calendar can perform seamless two-way synchronization between your desktop Outlook calendar and Google Calendar.

Bonus for your phone: If you have a BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia S60, or Windows phone, Google Sync for your phone wirelessly syncs your calendar with your device so you can check your schedule on the go, add an appointment and rest assured that the next time you sit down at your computer, your calendar will be in perfect sync.

Contacts in the Cloud
Your contacts are the lifeblood of your business, so making sure they're always backed up, accessible from anywhere and up-to-date is incredibly important.

If you shell out for the Google Apps Premier Edition (not a bad idea if you're serious about syncing your data with Google's cloud), you also gain access to Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook--a tool that deftly handles syncing of your contacts between Outlook and Google Contacts. (Unfortunately, Google supports contact sync with Outlook only with Premier accounts.)

If you don't want to commit to Google Apps Premier but you'd like to sync your Google Contacts with your Outlook contacts, check out GO Contact Sync. Want to try a non-Google app? Plaxo is an excellent online contact management service that syncs with Outlook like a charm.

Bonus for your phone: Google Contacts, like Google Calendar, syncs seamlessly with BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia S60 and Windows phones. Google Sync for your phone is particularly handy with contacts, especially if you often add new contacts from your phone: Transfer a contact from your phone, and Google Sync will wirelessly sync to the cloud and then back to your desktop.
Syncing Files and Folders to the Cloud
If you're not especially concerned about creating or editing files online, you may prefer to use a file-syncing application such as Dropbox or SugarSync to sync your documents to the cloud.

After installing one of these utilities on your computer, you can instantly sync and back up any file between the cloud and any computer that has the app installed on it. Thereafter, anything you add to a synced folder syncs between the web and every desktop where you've installed it.

E-Mail in the Cloud

E-mail is exceedingly important to any business, but syncing e-mail between your desktop and the web-whether via your company's e-mail server or a cloud service like Gmail--isn't exactly new.

If you use Gmail or Google Apps, we recommend setting up Gmail's IMAP with your desktop e-mail client to keep your desktop client and your Gmail inbox in perfect sync. (To enable IMAP in Gmail, log in and visit the Forwarding and POP/IMAP page.)

Once you've set up Gmail IMAP on your desktop, your desktop e-mail client of choice will always be in perfect sync with Gmail in your browser.

Follow up on Amazon selling wine

While the article I posted below is not new it is something I just heard about.  The point about backing out because of having to have brick and mortar in California is very interesting to me.  While I don't think I would have ever been a wine buyer from Amazon-I really enjoy supporting my local wine merchants and appreciate what they do- I am concerned with WHY they pulled out. 

I live in California and am watching this state go deeper and deeper in debt with taxes being considered for everything.  That said-it makes me really start to wonder how the state may start to take advantage of our WONDERFUL wine regions and wineries to help with the budget problems.  With Napa/Sonoma AVA's making world class wines and our Central Coast and Santa Barbara/Santa Inez AVAs following right behind I sure hope the state leaves them alone and lets the growth help organically vs. stifling them.

Not a worry yet but some food for thought!  What do you think?
Leave me your thoughts
kevin l brown

Why Amazon won't sell wine -- the real story

http://wblakegray.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-amazon-wont-sell-wine-real-story.html


Everybody in the wine world felt something when Amazon.com announced in October that it was canceling its plan to sell wine. Wine lovers and small wineries gnashed their teeth while retailers, distributors and wine.com popped corks.

At the time, everyone (including the Wall Street Journal -  http://ow.ly/1J6Q9 ) thought it was because of the maze of state regulations.

I learned this week of an issue completely unrelated to wine that had far greater repercussions for the world's largest internet retailer: sales tax. Not just on wine, but on everything.

Currently Amazon collects sales tax for only five states: Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota and Washington. It gets away with not collecting sales tax in the huge California market because it has no brick-and-mortar shop here.

However, in order to ship wine from California -- which was the plan -- Amazon would have had to open a retail outlet to comply with state law. Wine.com has one in Berkeley for exactly this reason. (Wine.com also has a shop in New York that's so obviously for legal requirements that it will not take cash.)
The problem is, once that California store was open, even if it was only 100 square feet with two items for sale, Amazon the company would have become a California retail shop for the purposes of state tax law, and would have had to start collecting sales tax on everything sold in the Golden State.
One of the main reasons Amazon is so attractive to consumers is its low prices. Adding 8.25% to the price of everything in California would eliminate much of that. The company calculated that the profit it made from selling wine nationwide wouldn't offset the potential loss of business from California alone.

Moreover, the sales tax issue would quickly have compounded. Once cash-strapped state legislatures in Florida and Texas and everywhere else realized California was collecting sales tax from Amazon, they would have reached for their share of the pie.

It's easy to say Amazon could have sold only wines from Washington and New York -- where they're already collecting sales tax -- and Oregon, which has no sales tax. There are some great wines from those states, but how big is the market for them? Amazon doesn't like to lose, but in this case, it would never have been the go-to wine website, not when consumers could go to wine.com and buy brands they already know.

Amazon's wine initiative is dead for now. But keep an eye on the California budget crisis, which is becoming like the never-ending TV show "24." (There's a bomb! A virus! A mole! How can we survive the hour!) There has been a lot of opposition to imposing sales tax on websites because the Internet industry is so important here. If that position ever changes, and Amazon has to start collecting sales taxes anyway, wine lovers might get an unexpected benefit.

YIKES- Look out North Face! 500k Fine

For Immediate Release: May 6, 2010


Media Contact: Nahal Mogharabi, 415-947-4307, mogharabi.nahal@epa.gov

“The North Face” Parent Company, “Saniguard” Marketers, and Califone Fined More Than $500,000 Over Antimicrobial Claims

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that three California companies and one New Jersey firm will pay more than $500,000 to resolve cases involving unsubstantiated antimicrobial claims for commonly used products such as shoes, headphones and bathroom fixtures.

“EPA will take decisive action against companies making unverified public health claims,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator of EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “Unless these products are registered with EPA, consumers have little or no information about whether their claims are accurate.”

San Leandro, Calif.-based VF Outdoor, Inc., will pay $207,500 for allegedly making unsubstantiated public health claims such as providing “antimicrobial protection” and inhibiting the growth of “disease-causing bacteria” for more than 60 shoe products it sold – a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The products were sold under The North Face label by VF Outdoor. Products discovered online and evidence found at a North Face retail store in San Francisco led EPA to issue a complaint against VF Outdoor in 2009.

EPA also recently fined Califone International, Inc., of San Fernando, Calif., $220,000 over unproven health claims for headphones. Califone, a designer and distributor of audiovisual equipment used in schools and other institutions, allegedly sold headphones claiming “to prevent the spread of bacteria, mold and mildew for student protection.”

Additionally, EPA fined Component Hardware Group, Inc., of Lakewood, N.J., and John S. Dull Associates, Inc. (d/b/a Food Service Parts in Garden Grove, Calif.), $98,300 following an inspection conducted by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. The inspection revealed evidence that the companies were selling and distributing Saniguard products with unverified claims that they control growth of bacteria and contain antimicrobial technology that controls growth of E. coli, salmonella, staph, and pseudomonas on treated surfaces. The Saniguard products allegedly marketed to hospitals and other industries include faucets, spigots, handles, light switch and socket covers, door push and pull plates, and food service hardware.

EPA’s authority to assess penalties in these settlements stems from FIFRA, which requires that companies register pesticide products with EPA before making claims about their ability to control germs or pathogens. While the North Face, Califone, and Saniguard products all incorporated EPA-registered silver-based antimicrobial compounds to protect them against deterioration, they were never tested or registered to protect consumers against bacteria, fungus, mold, and/or mildew.

“We’re seeing more and more consumer products making a wide variety of antimicrobial claims,” said Katherine Taylor, associate director of the Communities and Ecosystems Division in EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “Whether they involve shoes, headphones, or household fixtures, EPA takes these unsubstantiated public health claims very seriously.”

Under FIFRA, products that claim to kill or repel bacteria or germs are considered pesticides, and must be registered with the EPA prior to distribution or sale. The Agency will not register a pesticide until it has been tested to show that it will not pose an unreasonable risk when used according to the label directions. Consumers should be careful to look for the EPA registration number printed on product labels, and need to follow the label directions for use.

Fact sheet on consumer products treated with pesticides: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/treatart.htm

Safety Marketing Group Meeting- My friend Dave Johnsons Update

Dispatch from the annual
http://ow.ly/1IlWe - Dave Johnson
Safety Marketing Group (SMG) meeting

For three days in mid-April, safety supply distributors trekked from vendor suite to vendor suite along a corridor on the tenth floor of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas for brief, substantive 15-minute business meetings as part of the Safety Marketing Group's (SMG) annual conference.

ISHN was at the meeting to talk with safety distributors and suppliers to assess the current state of the safety market industry.

The Safety Marketing Group, located in Brooksville, Florida, is a network of industrial safety equipment distributors in North America - independent entrepreneurs, owned and operating on a local level. SMG is a corporation, organized as an industry cooperative, which is focused on group purchasing and group marketing of quality safety equipment products. SMG represents 60+ distributor members (with purchasing power of $900 million) and 50+ preferred and associate suppliers.

Fifty-two SMG suppliers were represented and 61 SMG distributors were in attendance at this year's conference; 250+ safety specialists from these companies were on hand for the annual business meeting, mini trade show, distributor principal benchmarking session, and awards ceremony and banquet on April 20th.

Almost every vendor told ISHN business is rebounding in 2010. Replenishing distributor stocking shelves is a prime reason. Inventory levels shrunk during the recession as distributors did not want to tie up cash in slow-moving product lines.

Respiratory protection proved to be an exception. Sales were robust, thanks to demand triggered by pandemic H1N1 flu fears.

High-visibility apparel - including vests, tee shirts, jackets, pants and helmets with reflective tape - was one of the stronger product lines last year as the recession clamped down on U.S. industrial activity. A vendor assessed the current market value at $160 million in sales, rising to $280 million by 2012.

Flame-resistant (FR) clothing to meet National Fire Protection Standard 70E requirements has been another dynamic market, according to vendors. End users include military, law enforcement, firefighter and industrial personnel confronting arc flash hazards.

But a number of distributors and vendors told ISHN their businesses have yet to see a positive impact from the federal government's infrastructure rebuilding stimulus monetary package. Some safety businesses experienced sales declines anywhere from 10-30+ percent in 2009, which one vendor called "the year of triage."

Many safety business people at the Las Vegas meeting expect it will take years before sales revenues return to the pre-recession highs of 2007 and 2008. Some doubt those go-go years will ever be repeated.

The nation's unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in March, 2010. Employment levels directly impact the number of boots, gloves, hearing protectors, respirators, helmets and safety eyewear sold. The construction industry, a critical market for personal protective equipment (PPE) sales, had lost an average of 72,000 jobs per month in the prior 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate in construction was 24.9 percent in March, 2010.

Still, the overall tone of this safety industry meeting, representing a broad cross-section of vendor product lines (everything from head-to-toe PPE to safety flags, flooring, flashlights, signage, first aid kits, ergonomics products, safety cans and cabinets, automated electronic defibrillators, skin care products, anti-fatigue drinks, and welding and electrical safety gear) was optimistic.

"After all," as one vendor said, "it can't get worse than last year."

A number of distributors and vendors said they saw monthly sales increases (compared to year-earlier figures) either starting late last year, or in the early months of 2010.

Another sign of returning health: You will see a number of new products come on the market at trade shows this year, such as the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo (Denver, May 22-27), the American Society of Safety Engineers annual conference (Baltimore, June 13-16), and the National Safety Congress and Expo (San Diego, October 4-6).

Look for new eyewear; hearing protection; fall protection systems; respirators; high-viz clothing; FR clothing; traffic safety products; and products for the energy, process industry, food, construction and green (windmill farms, etc.) construction markets.

Slowly but inevitably green products are expanding throughout the safety market. Comfort, durability and stylish design remain the key characteristics driving research and development in many PPE areas. OSHA's recent hex chrome standard is one agency requirement driving new end-user demand for safety products.

SMG members have combined annual sales in excess of one-half billion dollars and operate from more than 133 stocking locations through North America.

The SMG network carries close to 100,000 different items in inventory and does business with hundreds of manufacturers.

When safety product needs demand total customer service on a local level, customers should be dealing with a member of the SMG, according to the organization. With in-house technical experts in all the safety products an operation may require, SMG members provide answers and products when needed.

You probably recognize some of the following SMG distributors and vendors, honored as performance leaders at the SMG annual meeting:

Rich Harper Award - Eagle

• Radians

Most Growth

• OBBCO Safety (Distributor)

• Underwater Kinetics (Supplier)

John Cal Murray Award - Eagle

• Rayco Safety

JMA (Joint Marketing Agreement) Award

• Safety Products Inc (Distributor)

• Radians (Supplier)

Supplier of the Year: Top 5 Peak Performers

• Accuform Signs

• Capital Safety (DBI-Sala)

• Eagle Manufacturing

• Radians

• Tingley Rubber

Distributor of the Year: Top 5 Peak Performers

• Guardian Fire & Safety

• Medsafe

• Mettam Safety

• Safety Products Inc

• Stauffer Glove & Safety

Gold Suppliers

• Accuform Signs

• Radians

• Tingley Rubber

• Capital Safety

• Eagle Manufacturing

• Gasco

• Cortex

• Lakeland Industries

• Se-Kure Domes

• Tenacious Holdings

• Safety Zone

• Protective Industrial Products

• Kimberly Clark & Jackson Safety

• Wells Lamont

• Superior / NoTrax

Gold Distributors

• Safety Products Inc

• Mettam Safety

• Stauffer Safety

• Fremont Industrial

• Medsafe

• Guardian Safety

• Lone Star Safety

• Rayco Safety

• Safety Today

• Mid Continent

• Wise Safety

• SafetyWear

• Industrial Safety Supply

• Calolympic Safety

• Safety Services

• Arbill Safety

• OBBCO Safety

• Wayest Safety

• Premier Safety

• Industrial Safety Products

• Pro-Am Safety

• National Safety

• Dooly Tackaberry

• Safety Source NE

• Northern Safety

• Quad City Safety

• Scientific Sales

• Olympic Safety

- Reported by Dave Johnson, johnsond@bnpmedia.com

Barrel Building at Demptos Cooperage in Napa Valley

http://goosecross.com/2010/04/barrel-building-at-demptos-cooperage-in-napa-valley/

April 26, 2010
This brief video shows how a wine barrel is assembled from start to finish. It’s a craft that hasn’t changed much in over 2000 years (oh, they have a few power tools now that they didn’t have then). For more detailed information go to our articles for The Ancient Craft of Barrel Building or To Oak or Not To Oak.

 A couple of other good watches/reads!

http://goosecross.com/2009/06/the-ancient-craft-of-barrel-building/
 
http://goosecross.com/2010/04/to-oak-or-not-to-oak/
 

Starting ones blog- easy tips. hints

http://www.copyblogger.com/blog-content-checklist/?

Great short article for new bloggers on getting started, sharing links, etc etc.