Last week I wrote about Office Accounting Express 2008, Microsoft’s free offering for small business accounting, however if you want to give the industry leader in this category a try take a look at QuickBooks Simple Start Free Edition 2009. The name says it all here. This offering is designed to get you started (/hooked) using the QuickBooks product. This...

Either you are a Professional or just a Novice in using PC, Data Software always play an essential role in managing or carrying your data across different PCs. With good data software you can also work across different PCs with ease. Also with ongoing Credit Crunch in the world you need some essential Apps to maintain your high Productivity in this economic...

Many of us have been to conferences and other social gatherings where we network with people in our industry. Business cards are the standard method of getting your contact information to other people. The problem with business cards are (1) they’re so old-school, (2) they’re easy to lose, and (3) they’re the equivalent of snail mail in an age of...

I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida where PCMech is based out of, but I’m not a Florida native. I originally hail from the state of Connecticut in the northeastern portion of the United States known as New England. That region typically has harsh winters; everyone there is very familiar with what a Nor’easter is. When the cold comes (even well...

There are some dicey things happening with the U.S. economy right now. Gas prices are super high. The drastic increase in debt by the federal government as well as people on an individual level is leading to a very shaky economic foundation. Things are likely going to get worse before they get better, but as a person tuned in with technology, there are some...

In the world of business there are many corporations that do not follow the calendar year (i.e. year begins on January 1) but rather the fiscal year. While it’s true that a fiscal year can start anytime depending on the business, most of them will use September. As an example, high schools in the United States traditionally use September as the beginning...

Looks like Microsoft is back-pedaling on their new ad campaign starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. A story on Valleywag reports that the ads are being pulled, and that their marketing team is trying to spin a positive face to it. It seems some got the commercials and others didn’t. I’m going to put myself into the latter category and I see this...

In business, branding is important and this involves a logo. The logo is a visual piece of art representing your product or service. There are rules to making logos; it isn’t something where you can just whip up any old thing and throw it out there. Why? Because if it’s designed improperly it will inevitably cost you (possibly a lot of money). If you...

I am attempting to practice a new habit when managing my email: not having things stack up. As I write this article, my Gmail inbox sits with zero messages in it. I find that my head is much clearer with just that one thing in place. So, how can you go about getting your inbox down to zero? In this article, I will outline my personal advice for doing so. This...

There will be times when you have to call customer service, a.k.a. customer support a.k.a. the help desk. If you are educated on how call center environments operate you will get better results. Let’s start off with this: The Big Question: Does asking for the manager really help? NO. Speaking to a "higher level" will rarely get your issue...