CPA Firm Technology Blog

Tech News and Notes - Week of 7/17/2008

I'm behind on reporting on the gadgetry in my office, so here are some updates on things :

• I've been working with my  Scansnap S300 for the last few weeks, and I'm really impressed with it.  Although I would like to have TWAIN or ISIS compatibility, it's an amazing little device, and well worth the $260 it costs on Amazon for this piece of hardware.  It has only jammed twice after running hundreds of pages through it, including a couple of hundred thermal receipts for an expense report.  (and in one of the two jams, I had forgotten to take the staples out of the original - Doh!
• I seem to be on a LOT of conference calls lately, and have been using a Plantronics Calisto Pro Phone ( Cordless, DECT 6.0, Bluetooth, speaker phone, and it comes with a really good headset).  If you're a Skyper, this thing even has a USB connection to your PC so you can use it for your VOIP application.  I also really like the range on this thing- in the spring (before my A/C was running all of the time), I could use this item connected to my Jawbone headset (which has noise cancelling) to talk to people while taking in the great outdoors in my yard.  [Don't tell anyone that working for yourself has perks like that....]
• I mentioned that I had converted my home internet connection to TDS' fiber optic (PON) service, and I've also got their digital TV offering.  Verdict: The fiber optic internet rocks, and the digital TV is also very good - but seems to be in early implementation.  Once they start offering On Demand and DVR's in September, the TV will be up to speed with the rest.  The TV service reminds me a lot of dish service, in that there is a slight delay between when you select a channel and when it is displayed on your PC.  It doesn't take long, but it's just long enough to be a little annoying.

A few other things came to my attention earlier this week:

• The Association of QuickBooks Technologists is having a conference this fall for CEO's, CFO's, IT Directors and Management Consultants looking to streamline business processes and who want to learn more about Business Solutions designed for QuickBooks users. The conference is in Deerfield Beach, Florida on October 16, 2008, and appears to be reasonably priced.  (There are worse places to be than South Florida in October).  For more information contact AQBT founding member Dawn Scranton.
  
• The cobranding I discussed a couple of weeks ago has been very interesting, and offers some neat potential marketing tools for mid-sized and larger CPA and bookkeeping firms.  I've actually considered creating a CD for clients with the trial/free versions of Peachtree, OA Express, and QuickBooks SimpleStart along with an HTML page which has links to my site..... really interesting stuff.  This is something I would look into if I was at a firm looking to grow their accounting software consulting business.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: Gadgetreviews and news items of note FYE 2008-07-17, Office Accounting, AQBT, Peachtree, QuickBooks, TDS, Fiber Optic Internet Access, PON, Plantronics Calisto Phone, Scansnap S300

Notes from the Road and Travel Tips

We're in our second quarter "mini busy season" here with K2, and the last few weeks have seen us present technology conferences in Connecticut, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Oregon (where I will speak today).  We're also preparing for our first CPA Firm Technology Symposium in Overland Park, KS on 6/10.  Since this is a new, all-day course, I've been working with Val Steed, K2's CEO, on prep for this course so we have plenty of material and other collateral to help our participants use technology in their firms as effectively and efficiently as possible. USA Today (normally just good for recycling, but there are exceptions) has a nice article this morning on how to pack for a long trip, as well as some tips for the chronic overpacker.  Doug Dyment, the creator of OneBag.com (a site dedicated to traveling light) does a nice Q&A on how to pack for a trip.  Since I'm headed to Connecticut (two teaching days), Montreal (Canadian GP), and Kansas City (three teaching days) in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be reading this article with interest. There is also a nice chart in the article which lists who will have to pay to check bags with various airlines.  Fortunately, the other airlines have not been as quick to match American's policy of charging for the first bag (although they are almost universally charging for the second checked bag.)  One of the few (hard earned) benefits of being a super-elite frequent flyer (Delta Platinum Medallion, Skyteam Elite Plus) is that I can check up to three bags for free.  While I very rarely use this benefit, it was nice to be able to handle all of the bags for free for my two companions when I went to Florida for the Memorial Day weekend. Some travel links readers may want to use for their upcoming trips:

• TripIt - www.tripit.com - This site will create itineraries from your confirmation e-mails from the various sources and put them into an iCal feed which you can add to Google Calendar or Outlook 2007.  You can also have "friends" on the site and share info with them or see when you will be in the same area as one of your far-clung cronies.
• Sidestep.com - This is a meta-search engine for travel which will look on numerous travel sites for a particular trip, and then allow you to find the best match of price and schedule for your trip.  While most people use this for airfare searches, the car rental searches are where I tend to save the most money, and they also offer other category searches as well.  I can't recommend this one highly enough.
• Google Transit - lets you plan trips using numerous public transportation systems around mostly North America and Europe.  While this is a new service, I'm expecting that the depth of integration with organizations and schedules is going to be really good on a going forward basis.  I'll let you know more once I've used the schedules for Montreal on my trip there next week.

I'm also in the process of implementing a hosted document management system for my little firm.  I actually installed the client software yesterday, and am now populating the database with a few documents until I can get a feel for how best to organize my documents (which don't really fit the typical organization structure for a CPA Firm, since I do so much oddball consulting).  I'll report more on this effort after I do the second revision of tags, categories, and other ways to implement this system.  K2 has some good tips on their Totally Paperless site, but I'm working to capture the various steps and factors considered as part of this whole process in a document which can be used for either blog content or teaching classes.  I'm also working with this vendor on integration with portals for secure interchange of information, and I hope to be able to write more about this in the near future.    

Tags: Travel, Road, Sidestep, Google Transit, Document Management, DMS, Packing, Suitcase, Airlines, Carry-on

The Future’s So Bright, We Have to Wear Shades

There’s a very interesting article by Andy Kessler on the editorial page in the Wall Street Journal this morning which discusses the coming war in technology; the link is here.  While Microsoft and Google are the armies currently fighting the skirmishes around the future of technology, this is really simply a proxy war about how we will use technology in the future.  Just as there are different methods of transporting goods around the country (think: rail vs. truck vs. airplane), there are also different models of computing
(browser vs. local vs. mobile).  Processing power (thanks to Moore’s Law), bandwidth, and wireless technology have changed the level of real time information sharing.  HP has even come out with a laptop (HP Compaq 6720t) which is designed to be used as a thin client into corporate systems and which doesn’t even have a hard drive!.

Many accountants are rightly concerned with the security and information control implications of using online services for their
mission-critical applications.  While these are legitimate concerns, the reality of our digital infrastructure has generally made these concerns less of a problem now than in the past.  High speed internet is getting faster.  Last week, I received a flyer from my local telephone company offering a fiber internet connection which would have 25Mbps down/10Mbps up connectivity to my home. 

While I’m still mulling over whether or not I really need that fast a connection at home since my current connection is 10Mbps down/1Mbps up through my cable provider, it’s really interesting that this level of service is now available in Knoxville, Tennessee, which, although a nice-sized city, is admittedly not one of the first cities you think of when you imagine fast internet speeds.  My current internet connections (cable and Sprint wireless) continue to impress me with the speeds which are possible; my cable connection averages 8 Mbps down, 970K up whenever I test the speed, and my wireless connection (backup) has been running over 1.1 Mbps down/300K up on the road lately with EVDO Rev A. 

Anecdotal evidence suggests that telecommunications and other utilities are also more reliable than we have had in the past.  Where I used to reboot my router and modem every morning, I now go for months without rebooting these devices, and they seem to just work now.  My collaboration with others within K2 suggests that their experiences are similar:  I have noted only two critical outages among the team during the first four months of the year.  When I started my career 15 years ago, we would have two or three power outages during the busy season which would shut us down and cause us to lose work.  While utilities aren’t sexy, they certainly seem to have made significant improvements in the last generation.

If you haven’t tried some of the latest evolutions in Web-based applications, here are some for your consideration:

• Gliffy – Flowcharts on the Web
• QuickBooks Online
• Microsoft Office Live Small Business and OfficeLive Workspace
• Bill.com – Electronic workflow and AP/AR processing
• Copanion GruntWorx – An online application for scanning and organizing tax returns
• XCM – Workflow automation for CPA Firms
• Google Apps – An office suite which allows Web-based collaboration and processing of spreadsheets and word processing documents.  These documents can be taken offline with an app called Google Gears.
• Thomson and CCH offer hosted versions of their CPA firm applications.  Thomson’s offering is called Virtual Office CS, and CCH’s offering is called Global fx.  (Both have simplified life for many firms who want to quit applying updates and administering servers in their offices.)
• Capital Confirmation makes audit confirmations paperless and electronic (and really fast as well).
• Jungledisk – An application installed on your PC which creates an encrypted storage drive using Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) .

While the future direction of computing hasn’t been finalized, there are really interesting things happening in technology, and some things (like those pages or CD’s for reference materials) are on the way out. The future appears to offer more choices for how tools are delivered to users, which will make it much easier to work from anywhere – even a condo in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Brian Tankersley is a CPA and CITP based in Knoxville, Tennessee.  You can learn more about him at www.bftcpa.com.

Tags: WebApplications cloud versus local accounting CPA space

Mobile Broadband Kicks it Up a Notch

As many of you know, I am a loyal (paying) Sprint customer, and have used a variety of their cards since they rolled out EV/DO service about a year and a half ago. I am usually home a lot during the winter months, and have recently started venturing out of my winter hibernation cave to go back to my life of roaming the earth and through it searching for the best accounting technology. I have noticed a significant increase in the speed of Sprint’s mobile broadband service since I last talked about it last year. Where your average city would have a download speed of 500-700K and an upload speed of 70K last year, I’ve been seeing speeds of 1.7-2 Mbps down and 200K upstream. Since these are as good or better than those received by low end DSL, Ma Bell has to be shaking in her boots(!).

Last Result:
Download Speed: 2111 kbps (263.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 282 kbps (35.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Download Speed: 1631 kbps (203.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 218 kbps (27.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Download Speed: 1654 kbps (206.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 220 kbps (27.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

BTW, I did these tests at 7:15A, a time when many road warriors are using their aircards to check e-mail and surf the internet in preparation for another busy day on the road. Website used: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest

An Update from the Road

So I'm on the road this week.... I wanted to let you know that I was a conscientious objector to CES this year.  Really, if I want to hang out with 100,000 of my closest friends & neighbors, I'll stay home and go to a football game.  Seriously - maybe next year.  For those of you looking for gadget guidance, I'll refer you to my friend, Dr. Bob Spencer, who is carrying the torch for the skeptical gadget fan, and has posted some of his observations from his trip....er... pilgrimage... to Vegas for CES.  Heck, he even got a free dinner out of the deal from Greg LaFollette, so if they're giving away free dinner, I may have to go next year (chortle, chortle....)

I had the privilege of getting an update from some software vendors yesterday, and I'm excited about the progress that many of the vendors are making in updating their products and otherwise finding new and innovative ways to meet the needs of the profession.  Once much of the stuff is released from NDA's, I'm going to have a lot to blog about.  One trick I'll recommend to those of you who spend much time in webinars is to set up your trusty LCD projector to display your webinar on the wall of your hotel room.  I did this yesterday in Syracuse, NY for a day of webinars in the Doubletree here, and it really helped me keep from going blind staring at a tiny screen.  I just closed in my garage as a home office (sorely needed - I was cramming about 300 sq ft of stuff into a 150 sq ft office.  I now have at least 300 sq ft to work with, and I can pare down the stuff a little bit.  I'll send some pictures once I get the desk thing worked out, pics hung, etc.  It's a pretty nice little space, and it has 14 gigabit ethernet jacks in the wall.... it's nice to spend a little extra on the home network for a change.

[On a personal note, today my one year anniversary of my lap roux-en-y gastric bypass, and I would recommend it to any of you dear readers who have a BMI high enough to qualify (usually 36+).  I'm down 130 pounds, and have started the walk-jog thing at the hotels so I can get ready for a possible run in the 2008 NYC marathon (yes, I am aware that the original marathoner dropped dead after running 26.2 miles - but it has to be done!).  While it has a lot of ups and downs (the marathon), I'm looking forward to getting this done before I finish being 40 at the end of 2009.  Thanks to all of you who have offered your prayers and support over the last couple of years of this journey - the trip seems to get better and better each year.]

(blogged from the Outback Steakhouse in Syracuse, NY (where I ate a very tasty tiny steak)on my personal laptop and my Sprint aircard)

IL Technology and Business Solutions Show

I made some last minute changes to my presentations at the Illinois Society of CPA's Business and Technology Solutions Show, and promised my attendees that I would post some notes to my blog with PDF's of the presentations and links to some of the sites I discussed during the sessions.

1. Upgrading your Computers (Vista/Office 2007/Hardware Update)

• Download Upgrading.pdf

• Technology Recommendations (from Randy Johnston's company, Network Management Group, Inc.) [Disclosure: I do some paid consulting for NMGI] - Updated quarterly, this site has recommendations for workstation specs in business situations.  I always check this site when purchasing gear.
• SalesCircular - Compares sales prices on electronics and appliances from weekly sales circulars in Illinois.  OK for home hardware, probably not OK for business hardware.
• I mentioned that I upgraded my new laptop out of the box to 4GB of RAM.  I purchased the RAM from Newegg.com, one of my favorite sites for "geeky" items.  (No, I don't get any commissions if you click through - I just like the company.)

2. Small Business Servers (Overview of What is Going on in SMB Server World)

• Download SMBServers.pdf

• ScorpionSoft - Maker of Two Factor Authentication devices for SBS and Remote Web Workplace. (thanks to the lovely and talented Susan Bradley for this link)
• Microsoft SBS Page
• Microsoft Windows Home Server Page

Treo 650's..... a Verizon T650 for Sale

As I mentioned two posts ago, I just got a Sprint Treo 755p as a replacement for my Treo 650.  Same device, more RAM, faster internet.  I have already sold my Sprint Treo 650 (that was fast!), but have a friend who has a Treo 650 for Verizon which is available.  I'm not trying to turn my blog into a swap meet, but if you're interested in this Verizon unit, please send me an e-mail (spam@bftcpa.com) and I'll forward your note of interest to the guy who wants to sell his phone.  Seller is a board member of the Tennessee Society of CPAs, so he's fairly particular about his gear - if I needed one for Verizon, I'd buy it.....

Thanks, and best regards - Brian

Treo 650 (Sprint) For Sale

I’ve at last replaced my trusty Treo 650 (Sprint) with a Treo 755p, and now have a surplus Treo 650 (works great, refurbished about four months ago) which is available if you know of anyone who needs it.  I’ll probably list it on eBay later this week, but wanted to check with all of you to see if you know of anyone who needs a used 650, along with extra styluses (styli?), sync cable, charger, a case, and some other accessories.  You will want Sprint service with this one, but it runs Palm OS Garnet, has lots of RAM, and it even comes with a mammoth 32MB SD card - huge by 1990’s standards, but it still does great for backing up your Treo to SD  (and who would want to listen to music on their phone anyway?).

If you are interested, please e-mail brian att Bee Eff Tea Cee Pea Aaa dott commm. (sorry to be cryptic - misspellings required to slow down the spambotters)

Backups for Everyone....

4 GB USB drive = $29.95 after rebates

Add TrueCrypt (from www.truecrypt.org) for encryption.

Use MS's Sync utility for free....

If you're too cheap to buy a USB... you're just too cheap. 

Bonus:  If you have Windows Vista, you can use a USB as a ReadyBoost device, which uses the USB memory to speed up your PC.

Gadget Review - April 2007

In light of the revelations that my former Senator, Al Gore, has a $5K electric bill each month, I’m doing my part to reduce our use of coal-fired power plants with a new power gadget,  Solio. Solio is one of those batteries you can plug your cell phone, PDA, iPod into using a USB connector – but this one charges with either AC or Solar power through the attached solar cells.  (the battery keeps a nice charge too)  Plus, it was on closeout at Staples for $15 in Seattle (guess they don’t have sunlight out there). (http://www.solio.com/v2/) $100 retail – which isn’t too bad when you consider that it will work if you have light and your car and cell are dead.  Zero-carbon cell phone charging - take that, Al Gore!  (BTW, many of you know that my father owned a coal mining company in the 1980’s.  A friend recently asked me how I felt about my father’s "rape of the earth" in pursuit of windfall coal profits – and I immediately reminded him that the relationship was consensual, as the Company paid severance tax to the government for all of the stuff they took out.)

Another thing I’ve picked up lately is a Linksys Draft N router with a built in connector for USB HDD’s.  While it took a while to get the router to work and play well with the legacy 802.11g and 802.11b gear at my house (and longer to get the firewall to open and close at the right times), it’s very cool.  You can run your own FTP server off of it – and the router turns the USB drive into a network share using SMB (which works great with NT).  Model is Linksys WRT350N, and it’s about $179.  The firmware on this one is closer to a commercial router, so I’d clearly put it in the class between home grade equipment and commercial firewalls.  It doesn’t offer the VPN connectivity, but since I’ve got the WebEx stuff through QuickBooks, I’m OK. 

I was having problems with my AMD Turion laptop overheating (I know – join the club), and I found a great solution.  Targus makes a notebook fan that pushes lots of air against the bottom of the case – I know – you’re saying Ho-Hum – that’s so ‘90s. Well, this one has four built-in powered USB ports, so I can plug all of my crap into the notebook fan, and leave it in my office like a docking station.  It’s also about ¾” thick, so it goes in the bag OK as well.  Targus AWE01US, $50 at Fry’s.

I just switched to a Novatel U720 USB EV-DO adapter for Sprint.  This one is USB 2.0, and works with the new Rev. A standard, which gets me killer upload and download speed. The thing that makes this great is that you can use it as a NMEA GPS. While it doesn’t update as frequently as the normal USB GPS devices you can hook to your PC, you can still use it for navigation.  The bad news is that it uses so much power that you have to plug it into two USB ports. $100 on sale, w/ a $50 rebate from Sprint and a two year service agreement.  The GPS app is not documented in the manual, so you have to go looking for it – the app is called GPSModule.exe, and it’s in c:\program files\Novatel Wireless\Sprint\Sprint PCS Connection Manager\ (not like I had to look for it or anything).  This app has a button you can push to disable data and enable GPS.  Once you switch to GPS mode, it assigns a COM port to the GPS, and you can hook your mapping app to that port for the GPS feed. While this is a little too technical for my Mom to do every time she needs the GPS (com ports, buried apps, NMEA feeds, etc.), it works fine for me.  The other cool thing is that the app lets you send your location to Google Maps or MSN Maps and will show you where you are if you don’t have a map app on your PC. 

Windows Vista – Coolest features yet (ran the beta for a long time, and have been running it production since 2/1):

• Windows-Tab – like alt-tab, but with the new 3D window view – hit multiple times, and it scrolls through the windows.
•  Backup using the built-in app is SUPER fast and can be done while you’re doing other things.  I backed up this new PC (Val’s Flaming Laptop) onto a 120GB USB HDD in about 30 minutes.  Very, very cool – and fast.
•  Windows Search – Click on the logo, and then type something in the search pane at the bottom of the Start menu, but don’t hit enter.  Almost instantly, your references come up.
•  Gadgets (!) The Mac people may be cooler and have had them first, but  I’ve got my own stuff here, and I’m happy.
•  Core Duo processor and MS VPC 2007 rocks.  I worked on some graphics in a VPC session (I learned MS Image Composer back with FrontPage 2000, and still like to use it instead of Photoshop) with no noticeable lag – and the live PC and the VM were both running AVG antivirus, so nobody was practicing risky behavior here.

 
I do have some disappointments, however:

•  The anti-phishing stuff in IE7 always comes up that my router, the K2 Sharepoint site, and just about everywhere else doesn’t have a valid SSL certificate.  Could this be more annoying?  I think not.
•  Bitlocker’s configuration has eluded me.  I’m probably going to have to flatten another drive in my quest to master this compelling technology.  What the heck – I don’t need to see my family anyway.
• I hate the plethora of apps which shade everything out and make me either approve or disapprove an action.  While it’s better security, it’s also a pain in the back side.

Many apps, including Lacerte, ProSystem fx, and Adobe Acrobat are still not certifying that they run well under Vista.  I keep getting messages from Acrobat 8 Pro that I need to register even though I’ve done it already.  I’ve read of issues with Peachtree and Quickbooks (all except 2007), and have seen some issues with the anti-phishing filter and other identity theft prevention items in IE7+.  Finally, my Windows front ends for GPG aren’t available yet (and no version of PGP is compatible with Vista as of yet), so I’m hating it there.  I’ll probably have to set up a VM with my GPG settings on it to decrypt faxes – but hopefully, someone will come out with something that will work soon.

An interesting thing about the new laptop (HP Compaq nc6400 – smokin’!) is that it uses a new HP power adapter which is generally in short supply.  I traveled to Seattle without my power adapter, and could not find a universal to fit it in CompUSA, Fry’s, Office Depot, Office Max, Best Buy, and Staples (shot an afternoon on this).  The Kensington adapters (new style) don’t have a compatible tip, and the iGo is backordered (tip 24 or S24 depending on your model of power supply).  The Monster, some Targus, and the iGo all use the same tips, so check them out at iGo.com.  Radio Shack doesn’t stock the tip, and can’t order it right now – so if you get a new HP notebook, check out the power supply and get a backup plan for the road.

 

Three Displays on a Laptop

The multiple monitor wave has hit most CPA firms and other companies now, and most IT people know how to configure Windows to support these additional displays.  That having been said, many home-based workers may not be getting the productivity gains that come from using two or three displays.  My home office setup is pictured to the left - I'm working off of my laptop (the center display), and am using two 19" 1280x1024 displays (4:3 aspect ratio).  Both of these displays were purchased for under $200 each, so this whole project can be done for a little over $500, plus the cost of the laptop.

Here's a question from a participant, and the related response:

Dear Mr. Tankersley  (ed. note: Mr. Tankersley is my father.  I am Brian.):

I attended your classes in November in Tulsa and really enjoyed them.  They imparted alot of useful information.  Especially enjoyed the Quickbooks classes. I have one question relating to your general technology session.  On page A13 of the general session material, you mentioned that it is possible to run 3 monitors from one laptop.  How can it be done?

Thank you

A Curious CPA

___________________

Dear Curious CPA:

Good to hear from you, and thanks for the kind words.

You can run three monitors on a laptop in three ways.  First, I’m defining screens as follows:

·         Screen One is the LCD on the laptop.

·         Screen Two is an external monitor connected to the video out port on your laptop (usually a VGA out port)

·         Screen Three is a hardware video device connected to an external monitor.  This is what confuses some when trying to figure out how to do this.

For purposes of this, I’m going to assume that you know how to enable the second monitor (go to Control Panel, pick display, select the last tab (settings).  Click on the additional monitors present, and select the “Extend my Windows Desktop onto this monitor” option for each. 

The third monitor can be enabled using a number of techniques. 

·         The easiest way to do this is to purchase a docking station for your laptop.  While some manufacturers make a docking station which will allow the third display, others (such as my cheap laptop in the attached picture) will require a USB 2.0 docking station.  I have a Targus ACP50 which supports four powered USB ports, VGA output, serial, 10/100 ethernet, and audio connections all over one USB 2.0 connection.  My experience with this device suggests that it will work fine if you want to just use it for VGA, or use it for VGA at low (1024x768) resolution, along with some of the other functions.   The one I have is a Targus ACP50, and it’s about $100 at Circuit City, Best Buy, or an office supply store.  This is the same device NMGI is recommending to CPA firms.  Info is at http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=ACP50US.

·         I have seen some Cardbus VGA adapters in the past, but couldn’t find any for sale on Amazon in a cursory search.  You may be able to find something like this online somewhere – but I have not used these, and have not done an exhaustive search for any of these items online.

·         If you run multiple PC’s (as I do), you can use an application called MaxiVista to send the video for the third monitor to an additional PC over TCP/IP.  This requires client/server software. 

Hope this helps – and I hope to see you at another OKCPA event in 2007.

Best regards,

Brian

Skype Wi-fi Phone

I want one of these!!!!

Airline On-Time Statistics

One of the more frustrating things for a road warrior like me is delayed or cancelled flights.  I'm going back to metro NYC later this month, and after having been stuck there on Delta 4948 (a direct flight from LaGuardia to Knoxville) twice this year, I'm a little gunshy about scheduling the flight for my trip home from my next trip.  You've got to work to get this information out, but if you want to know, the on-time statistics for domestic flights are available from the USDOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics website:

• http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/airline_ontime_statistics/

In my case, I know to tell my wife that on the average Thursday night, I'm going to be a couple of hours late - arrival times were 22:55, 23:40, 23:42, and 23:10.  The good news: No cancellations on Thursdays.

My request here: Please pray for good weather in the Eastern corridor on Thursdays, and if the weather looks tough, consider taking an earlier flight.

Power and Router for EVDO.....

So... I was reading my e-mail this evening, responding to some questions, and the lovely and talented Abbie Watters posted a trackback about the Sprint EV/DO Card - she evidently bought the same one I purchased (and I think I've seen her in a class down there). (side note: if you're looking into EVDO, visit EVDOInfo.com - they have info on a newer, faster Novatel card - the Merlin S720) Abbie indicates that she's having power issues, and is concerned about going "unplugged".  Here's what I'm using on my end:

1. Kyocera KR-1 Wireless Router (also on Froogle)- Think about using EV/DO to set up a wireless network in the middle of a power outage - and running your mobile office for 3-4 people when you're on a car trip together.  That's exactly what you can do with the Kyocera KR-1 Wireless Router.  This device has a slot for your Cardbus EV/DO card, a USB port for a USB-enabled EVDO phone, a removable antenna, an AC adapter, a car cigarette lighter adapter, four wired ports, and lots of 802-11g, WPA enabled wi-fi.  I suggest one of these, along with an EV-DO card for every CPA firm.  While the primary use may be for when your auditors are in the field (or on vacation at an inconvenient time), they also can serve as a backup internet connection for your office.
2. Kensington's universal power adapter (the 120W one).  This device is my backup for when I'm on the road, and one of those power supply cables gives out.  It also has tips and splitters that let it take power from car cigarette lighters, AC, or even the EmPower jacks on newer (mostly transcontinental) aircraft to charge both laptops, the iPod, and my Treo.  Last week, I had a flight from Dallas to Cincinnati, and used the onboard power to recharge my laptop while on the plane - very cool.  I've also started using the two DC-powered devices to create a mobile network in the car - so if I'm out on appointments, I can set up a network to go and get some work done, and I can share the internet connection if I need to patch a second laptop - as long as the car is on and I have coverage, the work continues as I'm rolling.  Oh yeah - you can also use it with a standard 110 volt outlet.
3. HP's battery expansion pack - I've been coveting this for a while, and I'll probably get one later in September.  Tommy, Randy, Bob, and Mac all have them, and they love them - and with my AMD Turion 64 ML-34 processor in the HP laptop, I think I can use the extra juice.  There are also some universal power bricks from APC, but I've avoided them thus far - I haven't seen the value proposition with some of the price points as high as $300 - for a battery.
4. AC Power Inverter - These are available from many sporting goods stores, and let you run just about anything you want off of your car.  One caveat - while many are rated at 400, 800, or even (gasp) 1000 watts, the fuses for most cigarette lighter adapters are 15 amp fuses - which means that they will blow at 180 watts - so no fridges here.  I've seen clients run two laptops off of one - which made a 10 hour family road trip much better.  These, combined with one of the universal FM adapters made for audio gear with a 1/8" jack can let you use your car stereo, along with your widescreen laptop to make your older car into a rolling home theater without making a permanent committment to hardware installation.  Hey - and you can check your e-mail with the EV-DO router above.  Who knows - maybe some kids will be having a rolling LAN party on laptops soon - it's all possible - it's just money.

Whipping all over the Internet with EVDO 2 Go.

My son is very interested in trains right now, and I had the opportunity to ride commuter rail with him over the weekend in Dallas. While on the train, we sat at a table facing each other, and played with his cars and trains. I also worked the laptop into the trip, and we visited some of his favorite internet sites on the EVDO card while speeding across the Texas prarie at Road Runner speeds (physically and virtually).
The last couple of times I rode commuter rail, I used my laptop and EVDO card (Sprint), and was very pleased with the results. Even at 60 mph, I was able to get 700k download speeds and 100k upload speeds. If you commute via rail, you may want to look into these cards, currently provided by Sprint and Verizon (mine is a Novatel Merlin S620). If you're in the market for one of these cards, visit an EVDO site to learn about the pros and cons of each cards- lots to read, but you'd better like what you get- because you're going to have it for a couple of years.
I get to go back to NJ at the end of next month for a few days, and am looking forward to seeing how the card performs on NJ Transit. Thus far, I've used the card on LIRR and on the subway in NYC and on TRE between Dallas and Ft. Worth. I've also used the card in NYC, Cincinnati, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Long Island, Syracuse, and Denver. The only place the service really stunk was in Syracuse (and the Sprint service map shows no EVDO service there anyway).
The other place that the card really saves the day is in the airport. In the past, I carried a $40 a month unlimited T-Mobile Wi-Fi plan so I could check e-mail in Crown Rooms and most airports- that has now been supplanted by a $60/mo addition to my Sprint bill (which is now the size of the GNP of Tuvalu each month.)
I will also be testing the Kyocera router for my EVDO card during Monday's NCACPA tech fest in Charlotte- will let you know what I learn about the experience.
If you spend much time waiting on planes, trains, and automobiles, look into an EVDO card. Those who spend most of their time in top 100 metro markets (like me) will probably discover new ways to be proyductive between meetings. Who knows- it may even help you set yourself free from the mortal coil that is the ethernet cable and the Telco/Cable mafia.
(Ed. Note: The picture above was taken on a CRJ-50 from CVG to CLT. The picture shows the domesticated 'Redneckus techgeekus' in his silly face mode. This tends to reduce the likelihood of mating, so this behaviour is rarely seen in the wild.)

No Notebooks on Airplanes?

WSJ Article (subscription required)

Please.  Step away from the Federal Register.  Put your hands above your head.  Don't do anything rash - no sudden movements.  Please. In the name of all that is Holy, Mr. FAA, please don't take my laptop away.

Frequent travelers are already likely to stink, since we can't take deodorant and toothpaste on board (these must now be checked).  Now, the FAA is investigating whether or not they should be taken on airplanes at all (!).  As I tell the TSA agents I speak with (usually when they're swabbing my laptop bag), "Thanks for what you do.  I love architechture, and I appreciate your work to help keep me from becoming part of some building somewhere."  I've got no problem with folks doing what they need to do to keep us safe - but I've traveled with a laptop for ten years.  My laptop is my security blanket in many respects.  If I can't carry my cell phone, projector, and my two laptops, it's going to be pretty hard for me to teach seminars.

I can make it work, but the point is that the life of a road warrior is hard enough already.  You have late or cancelled flights, rude hotel or airport personnel, gate agents who stop helping you get on standby on a boarding aircraft to speak with their boyfriends on their cell phones (Yes, it really happened - USAir, Philadelphia), lost or damaged luggage, lost reservations for hotels and rental cars (I actually slept in a rental car and showered in a truck stop before a big meeting one time), and many other indignities.  Please - don't take away my link to the outside world.  We can work it out.

Dell to Announce Huge (4MM units) Notebook Battery Recall

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Dell is expected to have a huge notebook battery recall announcement in the next few days.  It’s not known which models are affected, but the affected notebooks can, in rare instances, spontaneously combust.  Accordingly, I’m recommending that you turn off and unplug your laptop every night to be sure that you don’t leave a ticking fire bomb in place.  While the chances of you having a fire are remote, the preventative step is painless, so please – don’t leave a laptop plugged in and unattended.

Find out if you are affected - visit https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/ .  Interestingly enough, the issue is really a Sony issue, since Dell uses Sony's batteries, and may affect other computer manufacturers.

(ed, note: FYI - this is the largest ever notebook battery - 2.7 million US notebook batteries, and 1.4 million batteries abroad - WSJ has a good table on this - it's an order of magnitude larger that the next largest recall. Since these notebooks were shipped as far back as 2004, these new batteries will give a new lease on life to many aging machines.  My recommendation:  If your laptop is over a year old, take time to reinstall everything from CD when the new battery comes in.  Reinstalling Windows and apps can make your PC run much faster.)

Since fiery notebooks would have a significant negative effect on the data stored on your notebook, I also recommend that you back up your notebook as soon as possible to a USB hard drive or other device.  Salescircular.com has a category called "Hard Drives" which lists drives on sale at national office supply chains and electronics stores by state.  {If I could do it all over again, I'd buy 3-4 500GB MyBook hard drives.  Small form factor, huge storage, and attractive enough to sit on your bookshelf.}

The original Wall Street Journal Article appears here (subscription required).

Bootable USB Drive with WinXP

Creating a bootable USB drive with Windows XP (from Information Week)

Looks like something to try next time I get an hour or so to play.... interesting concept.

(Tip o'the hat to Mac McClelland and Dr. Bob Spencer for this tip/discussion.)

Act! for Palm OS

Thank you, Sage!  You guys rock!

Sage has finally come through on my request for a Treo 650-compatible version of Act! for Palm OS.  (Tip o' the hat to Laura Costa of Sage for tipping me off on its release).  The new version seems nice (I've just had it installed for a couple of hours, so I can't give you a full review on it yet), and requires the latest version of Act!, Act! 2006 (v. 8.0.2 or later required).  I just happened to have a copy of Act! 2006 laying around, and installed it today as well.  I'm looking forward to getting back to my old routines.

Many of you probably are K2 participants who have other apps which use MS SQL Server Desktop Edition installed, so I'll go ahead and give you the secret for getting Act! 2006 to work on your PC.  Follow these steps, and you shouldn't get the database issues which come from having incompatible versions of SQL server on your PC:

1. Instead of installing the version of ACT! on the ACT! 2006 CD, go to the ACT! website Support Downloads page (http://www.act.com/support/updates/index.cfm??) (registration required), and download the 30 day trial version of Act! 2006 (8.0.2) off of the website.

2. Uninstall any versions of ACT! on your PC.

3. Install the version of ACT! 2006 you downloaded, and enter your serial number into this program after it's installed. 

Congrats!  You should now be ACT'ing normal.

Summary:  Sage Software good.  Averatec bad.  Film at 11.