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Greetings!
April. We start it out dealing with Fools and foolish things, deal with taxes halfway through, and end it with my brother's birthday. Many of us look for chocolate eggs in the meantime (for some reason following a rabbit seems to be a popular strategy, the logic behind this eludes me).
Meanwhile, the world keeps spinning.
And don't let the fact that the eNewsletter was released on the 2nd fool you. To us, it's the 1st. Get it?
Ok, moving on. As you can see, we're going to make our first official Windows 8 Presentation on the 18th. But if you can't wait, you can attend the April meeting of the Greater Cleveland PC Users Group on the 14th.
And actually, it's pretty exciting. I picked up a Samsung tablet about a month ago and have been using Windows 8 more and more. The new interface works really nicely with the tablet, and the ability to run Windows apps seals the deal.
We've already had some RSVP's for the Lunchinar, so I suggest if you're interested, let John know.
See ya!
Bob
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Announcing Our Next Free Lunchinar: A Sneak Peek at Windows 8 | | |
Yes, there's a new Microsoft Windows Operating System on the horizon and for the first time it will be made available in four versions. Of course, the one most of us will become familiar with is the desktop. For those still running the nearly decade-old Windows XP, this release should garner your serious attention. Other versions will include Windows 8 for the Server, the mobile phone and the tablet.
Emphasizing Simplex-IT's leadership position in the local IT community, this will be our first public presentation on the new OS, which is slated for release later in 2012. There is so much that's new and exciting (shhh, the Start button is gone!) we can't wait to show it to you! Join us!!
Read more here! |
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For this post I have to thank Scott Barlow over at Reflexion.
Recently I discovered that my Excel 2010 (happens with 2007 as well, apparently) started behaving in a peculiar manner, especially when it came to copying, cutting and pasting. I would get that animation indicating that I had selected a box for the briefest of time, and then nothing.
Unfortunately, the solution (or I should say the cause of the problem) comes from an unexpected source: Skype.
Read more here. |
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These days it's pretty unusual to see price REDUCTIONS on goods or services, as opposed to the much more typical price INCREASES with which we've become much more accustomed. That's why we were so excited when we heard from Microsoft they were announcing new lower prices for their very successful Office 365 Cloud Services. Here's what they had to say in their March 14, 2012 Office 365 blog:
"Customers continue to give us fantastic feedback on Office 365. Since we launched last summer, we've been happy to serve great companies like JetBlue, Patagonia, Campbell Soup Company, Groupe Marie Claire, and Tata Steel Europe. We're regularly delivering new value in the service, releasing updates now monthly, and recently brought Office 365 to another 22 new markets to grow our global footprint to 64 geographies - with more to come!
Click here to read more.
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Apple to open up iLand | | |
Bob here. If you're like me, you've been wondering what Apple Computer was going to do with its billions of dollars of cash. Within the last month it's made a couple of announcements about that, namely stock dividends and stock buyouts. But there hasn't been anything particularly strategic, nothing that would give an idea of where Apple plans to go in the future.
Until now.
Over the weekend Apple announced plans to purchase Alcatraz Island, located in the San Francisco Bay. You're probably familiar with its history as a rather notorious federal prison (you can actually get tours through the National Park Service, although that will be ending after Labor Day weekend this year).
Click here to read more.
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Simplex-IT presents Windows 8 at GCPCUG! | | |
Bob and Kevin will be presenting Windows 8 at the April meeting of the Greater Cleveland PC Users Group. This meeting will be free and open to the public. We'll cover the new Metro interface, demo some of the features of the tablet, and talk about desktop and server version as well. Plus we'll raffle off a copy of Windows 7 and Office 2010.
Click here for more. |
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Microsoft Announces Big Savings through June 30, 2012 | | |
Microsoft recently announced they are bringing back their Big Easy promotion, offering significant savings to qualifying organizations through June 30, 2012 on some of their most popular software and services. Eligible licenses include:
- Open License
- Open Business License
- Open Local Government License
- Open Value
- Open Value License and Software Assurance for Commercial and Government
- Open Value Subscription for Commercial and Government
- Microsoft Online Services Program (Office 365)
The Big Easy Offer 8 gives you choices on Microsoft software and services that fit your needs. For every qualifying software license you purchase, Microsoft pays your organization Partner Subsidy funds that can then be used with the eligible Microsoft partner of your choice to help with a) the implementation of Microsoft software licenses and associated services or b) toward the purchase of additional software licenses.
Read more here. |
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Bob here. Doug and I had the opportunity last week to check out Microsoft's new version of SQL Server, SQL Server 2012, at a special event in Columbus.
Microsoft is now ramping up their events regarding SQL 2012. This event was part of a "Special Ops Tour" (http://www.specialopstour.com),which will be going to 12 cities all told. Unfortunately, the days of Cleveland being a primary target for these kind of events seems to be long gone. Actually, you could make the point that Microsoft doesn't make the last word put on huge events for their releases anymore. The days of the mega-launch such as Windows 95 are long gone, I'm afraid. I might even have to (shudder) buy my own T-shirts! Sad days, indeed.
But Microsoft is still trying to put a little bit of "coolness" into the events.
Read more here. |
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The cloud is indeed all the rage, and for productivity tools Google and Microsoft are the biggest players. In his article in the March 2012 edition of Redmond Magazine, Doug Barney reports on the views of over 20 users of these online suites, both their good and bad experiences.
Certainly there have been many "shootouts" published between these two tech giants' foray into cloud services, but this may be the first one where actual users are given a platform to voice their opinions. And the results produce a story that's far different from the typical IT media fare.
Is there a winner? I don't want to spoil it for you, so you'll have to read the article. Of course, in the end, it is you who must make the decision as to what will best fit your needs. This article is going to give you a lot of information that you should find helpful.
You can read it here. |
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Hello again, Kevin here. I was recently doing some web searches and came across this handy-dandy list of shortcuts you can use inside a remote desktop (terminal server for us who have been in the business too long).
Microsoft seems to be pushing the whole concept of Remote Desktop more, so things like this will definitely come in handy. And you can find it here. Enjoy!
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Blog updates from Simplex-IT over the past month
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| Plain Funny #45 | |
Think your job is hard? Compare your trials and tribulations to Mario. I mean, this guy goes through a lot.
And doesn't always make it through in one piece. Here's the psych quiz. You can watch this video with one of three mindsets:
1> Wow, there are some creative people who have made Mario Brothers videos throughout the years.
2> Man, I've personally played through each one of these deaths. I've wasted a lot of time in my life. Time to go out and make something of myself!
3> Ooh, I found 7 new ways for Mario to die that I don't remember going through. Time to dust off my old Nintendo 64 for the weekend!
 | | The Many Ways Mario Has Been Killed In His 25 Years Of Gaming (Original) |
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We'd love to hear feedback about this! Send comments to Bob@Simplex-IT.com, or call us at 234.380.1277!
Sincerely,
Bob Coppedge
Simplex-IT LLC |
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