BVA Blog - IT Business Company http://www.bvainc.com/blog Small and Medium Business Computer Consulting Tue, 15 May 2012 22:37:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Awesome Note – Stay Organized http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/awesome-note-stay-organized/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/awesome-note-stay-organized/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 20:41:29 +0000 Geina.Dawson http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2287 Organization is a necessity when it comes to keeping track of your day to day activities, as well as notes, information, or whatever items that keep you on track in your busy day. I use an app on my iphone called Awesome Note. It keeps all my important information in one easy to find location. It also allows me to quickly jot down new notes or task. Even great tool for shopping list and those daily “to do’s”. It even has a calendar with reminders. You can add photos to your notes either by taking a picture or from your storage of pics. Whats also cool is if you need to draw something, you can do that here as well.

http://www.bridworks.com/anote/en/iphone/features/index.php

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/awesome-note-stay-organized/feed/ 0 Use Apple Configurator to deploy iPhones and iPads http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/use-apple-configurator-to-deploy-iphones-and-ipads/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/use-apple-configurator-to-deploy-iphones-and-ipads/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 23:40:27 +0000 Michael Ziegler http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2277 Apple’s Configurator tool allows you to configure and deploy up to 30 iOS devices at a time.  The free app allows you to configure settings like Wi-fi and Exchange ActiveSync, and well as restrict access to features like the webcam and even internet browsing.

 

Apple support: http://help.apple.com/configurator/mac/1.0/#cadf1802aed

Download here:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-configurator/id434433123?mt=12

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/use-apple-configurator-to-deploy-iphones-and-ipads/feed/ 1 Air Display – User your IPad as a Second Monitor http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/air-display-user-your-ipad-as-a-second-monitor/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/air-display-user-your-ipad-as-a-second-monitor/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:32:38 +0000 Geina.Dawson http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2271 As more and more users become mobile the need for mulitple screens on the road has become invaluable. Now if you have an iPad, using wifi, you can use it as a second monitor with your laptop.

You’ll have to install the app on your ipad for $9.99 as well and download and install the app on your laptop.

http://avatron.com/apps/air-display

Key features:
- An instant second monitor
- Touch your desktop
- Display it the way you want (ie Landscape or Portrait)
- No wires needed

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/05/air-display-user-your-ipad-as-a-second-monitor/feed/ 0 Skydrive – Simple File Sharing http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/04/skydrive-simple-file-sharing/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/04/skydrive-simple-file-sharing/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:13:15 +0000 Geina.Dawson http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2258 Skydrive is Microsoft’s cloud technology to make it easy for uses to accesses files anywhere, internet, pc, mac, or smartphone. It comes with 25gb of free online space. What’s neat about this its linked your Live Messenger account as well as your Mesh account that allows you to not only share files, but access any computer that associated with the account, you can browse to drives, shares files and you can also remote into the pc (RDP) and control the computer from where ever you have internet access. There is an app you you can install on your pc, mac or smartphone.

https://skydrive.live.com/

Key Features
- 25GB of free space
- RDP access to computers
- Link and share files
- Access files from PC, MAC, or Smartphone
- Link Internet Explorer Favorites

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/04/skydrive-simple-file-sharing/feed/ 0 Bins – Folders for the taskbar. http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/04/bins-folders-for-the-taskbar/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/04/bins-folders-for-the-taskbar/#comments Sun, 01 Apr 2012 05:36:27 +0000 Wayne W. Johnson http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2230 When users work on their workstations, some have trouble keeping the clutter off the desktop, some keep an icon for every application on their machine in their taskbar dock. 1UP Industries has developed a new solution called Bins that’s provides folders for the task bar. The cost of the solution is $4.99 and here’s some more information on the product:

 

Restore sanity to your Windows 7 taskbar

Combine related icons on your Windows 7 taskbar with Bins™.
Reduce clutter, and get at your programs quickly.
Super easy

Create a Bins container by dragging one taskbar icon on top of another, and dropping into the bubble that appears. Ungroup icons by dragging the icon back to the taskbar. No need to open a settings screen; Bins is simple and intuitive.
Instantly accessible

Once combined, your icons will appear instantly when you mouse over a group’s icon, for launching or for window-management. Move your mouse away and Bins will tuck back into the taskbar.
Pin files and folders to your taskbar

Want a favorite folder or document more easily on hand? Bins allows you to pin any file or folder to your taskbar natively.
Bins also allows you to add spacers to your taskbar, as well as a fully functional Recycle Bin.

Check out the solution at www.1upindustries.com/bins

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/04/bins-folders-for-the-taskbar/feed/ 0 Ultramon – A taskbar on every screen http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/ultramon-a-taskbar-on-every-screen/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/ultramon-a-taskbar-on-every-screen/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:27:32 +0000 Geina.Dawson http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2214 Ultramon is a piece of software that allows users who have multiple screens to have a taskbar on each screen they are using. This becomes particularly handy when your are working with mulitple application as it allows you to see what screen the application is opened on, rather than trying to tab thru it or clicking until you find it.

www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon

With Ultramon you can:
- You can move applications from one screen to another with a click of a button
- You can easily manage more applications so that they are not all on one task bar
- You can have a different wallpaper on each screen
- Easily mirror monitors
- You can also maximize windows across the desktop

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/ultramon-a-taskbar-on-every-screen/feed/ 0 4Sync – Syncing Files so you can access them virtually anywhere http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/4sync-syncing-files-so-you-can-access-them-virtually-anywhere/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/4sync-syncing-files-so-you-can-access-them-virtually-anywhere/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:26:57 +0000 Geina.Dawson http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2223 I wrote a blog previously about Dropbox. An application that allows you to sync a folder so that you can access it over the internet, or on whatever PC you have dropbox installed on. I love the application, the only pitfall is that it only gives you 2gb of free space, after which you need to start paying a monthly fee to get more space. I found another application today called 4Sync, its basically the exact same $9.95. Not too bad. I decided to try it out today and I was able to sync a folder and have the folder replicated on two different PC’s. I can also access the files logging into the 4Sync website at www.4sync.com or there is even an app for my iPhone that works very well. I was able to open various files and documents with no issues.

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/4sync-syncing-files-so-you-can-access-them-virtually-anywhere/feed/ 0 Miss the Start menu in Windows 8? http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/miss-the-start-menu-in-windows-8/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/miss-the-start-menu-in-windows-8/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:03:59 +0000 Michael Ziegler http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2202 Stardock has created software that adds the Start menu functionality that many users rely on, back into Windows 8.

Features

  • - Adds a “Start” menu to the Windows 8 taskbar
  • - Enables quick access and searching of your installed applications
  • - Adds Run… option via right-click menu
  • - Adds Shutdown… option via right-click menu
  • - Choose a custom Start button image

Download it here:  http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

 

 

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/miss-the-start-menu-in-windows-8/feed/ 0 How to reset local security policy settings to default http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/how-to-reset-local-security-policy-settings-to-default/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/how-to-reset-local-security-policy-settings-to-default/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:39:53 +0000 Michael Ziegler http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2177 If you’ve ever found yourself with a computer that has remnants of a Group Policy still applied to it, or if you have changed GPO, and need to reset the local policy back to default, there’s a handy command you can use.

Open a command prompt (Start, Run, CMD) and enter:

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\repair\secsetup.inf /db secsetup.sdb /verbose                           for Windows XP

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb /verbose                                 for Windows Vista/7

It will take a few minutes, and then you will need to reboot the computer to complete. This uses the default security configuration templates to reset the local policies.  Once rebooted, new policies or configuration can now be applied.

]]> http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/how-to-reset-local-security-policy-settings-to-default/feed/ 0 Apple TV: Oh the Possibilities… http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/apple-tv-oh-the-possibilities/ http://www.bvainc.com/blog/2012/03/apple-tv-oh-the-possibilities/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:10:36 +0000 Geina.Dawson http://www.bvainc.com/blog/?p=2081 I have used the Apple TV appliance for a little over a year now and just recently found some cool features to use it with my iPhone and two very neat applications. First of all for those of you who don’t know what the Apple TV is, its a small box that you can connect to your TV and by either wifi or ethernet cable access movies, netflix, music, and whats really cool your iTunes library when you turn on Home Sharing. You connect the device to your TV via HDMI cable, the streaming video quality is amazing.
The AppleTV retails for $99. If you have a Netflix subscription you can access it via this device as well. It comes with a remote that is simple to use, please that if you have a MacBook, the remote works on that as well, I found this out when I trying to browse through netflix and it kept playing music on my itunes that was my MacBook Pro.

Now onto the apps…
On my iphone I have an app called AirVideo, up until recently I had only used it to convert my .avi videos so that I can play them on my iPad. One of the coolest features of AirVideo is the ability to stream your video from your computer on your iPhone or iPad, and now I can play it on my Apple TV as well. My videos are stored on my pc in my home office computer and with just a couple of taps on the iPhone its streaming on my TV!

Another cool app is called Remote, this app allows you to control your AppleTV on your iPhone or iPad and thus allows you to stream content ie: pictures, videos or simply control your AppleTV when your playing movies from Netflix.

Put all three together and you’ve got an amazing way to stream videos! I have two AppleTV devices, one in my main media room and one in my bedroom.

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