John Dolan

Favorite Shortcuts - Windows Snap

It's often helpful to view two windows on a single screen.  Windows "Snap" allows you to quickly resize (snap) a window to the left or right half of the active screen (can also be used to maximize or minimize a window).  This is one of my most frequently used Windows 7 and Windows 8 shortcuts.

To use this feature simply drag a window until your mouse bumps the left or right edge of the screen (to maximize a window bump the top of the screen). To fully utilize this feature in a multi-monitor setup, you need to use the keyboard shortcuts.  The keyboard shortcuts are explained below:

First ensure the window you want to move and resize is selected.  Then, press the Windows key and the up arrow to maximize it, the windows key and the down arrow to minimize it, and the windows key with the right or left arrow to dock the window to the left or right side of the screen (resize it to take up half the screen). When using multiple monitors you can also shunt windows between screens by repeatedly pressing one of the arrow key while holding down the Windows key.

It may sound confusing at first, but give it a try, I think you'll quickly find how useful this shortcut can be.

Parallels Vs Fusion by Richard Dolan

Over the past several months, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with VMware Fusion 4’s performance with Mountain Lion - dual monitors are a disaster, Unity mode results in loss of focus and ghost images, and lots of other little quirks require me to bend my workflow to VMware rather than it
enhancing my workflow. Seeing that the latest version of Parallels was included in the last MacUpdate Bundle, I decided to give Parallels a shot.

It takes 15 second on Google to find about two dozen sites showing Parallels 8 to have superior benchmarks to VMware 4 or 5. Additionally, with the bundle, I’d get Parallels for $50 instead of the $70 crossgrade charge (although checking http://parallels.com today, the charge is also $50), which means the cost would be the same as upgrading VMware Fusion to the current version. Parallels emphasizes the ease of use of their software and the seamlessness of its operation. So, I
downloaded the trial version and fired it up.

I converted the Win 7 64-bit machine (40 GB HDD, 2 GB Memory) that I’d been using with VMware on my 13” 2011 MacBook Pro (500 GB 7200 RPM HDD, 8 GB Memory). The wizard converted the machine seamlessly and left the existing VM intact, which is certainly positive. I’d elected to run the machine
“more seamlessly,” so the machine was created to run in coherence mode. Here are a handful of things I learned:

• Coherence Mode has many of the same problems Unity Mode in VMware 4 does with ghosting, losing focus, etc. This issue may be tied to the extent to which I rely on spaces (e.g. Messages, Lync, & Outlook in a space together, LabTech, Connectwise, and IE in another space, Safari along with RDP sessions in another, maybe more), but Coherence mode was unusably frustrating to me.
• Performance was not noticeably different from VMware for the tasks I was doing. But, I don’t typically run anything that needs much horsepower on my virtual machine.
• Customization/configuration of the vm in Parallels 8 seemed obtuse to me. Exercising the same sort of granularity of control and the ease of adjusting settings/sharing/file location
  that VMware does so well remains inscrutable to me in Parallels.

Now, I work with vSphere and ESX on a nearly daily basis and have had Fusion on my Mac since the last time I gave up on Parallels (too long ago to be relevant here), so there’s certainly a familiarity component at play.  Nevertheless, I felt like an Android user moving to iPhone must feel with
Parallels, and that feeling is, for me, a deal-breaker. A locked-down iPhone enhances my workflow; a vm that takes tons of effort to tweak results in nothing but headaches. At least for me, upgrading to VMware Fusion 5 proved a much better move than switching to Parallels.

So, I’ve upgraded my version of VMware Fusion to 5 and my virtual machine to Windows 8 and am reasonably happy there. Unity mode still leaves a lot to be desired, but performance is fine and the annoying issues with spaces and multiple displays seem to be resolved. For those of us in the enterprise world stubborn enough to stay on our Macs, VMware Fusion may be as good as it gets…

Managing Facebook Privacy Settings

If you find Facebook privacy settings confusing, you're not alone.  Of the 1 billion Facebook subscribers, very few understand what information Facebook shares and with whom they share it.  Unless you manually update your privacy settings it's safe to assume that Facebook is sharing your information with anyone and everyone.

My preference is to only share posts, pictures, etc with friends.  I also prefer that my friends' Facebook games and applications not have access to my information.  While these settings will help limit the exposure of your posts, it's always best to assume that anything you post to Facebook could be shared with the world.

With that in mind I recommend these privacy settings.  To update a setting click edit to the right and then choose the option you want from the drop down or by checking the box as detailed.

1. Go to Privacy settings by clicking the cog in the top right corner of your screen and select "Privacy Settings"
   1. Who can see your future Posts  - Friends  Note:  This option will always revert to your last setting, so if you decide to make a post Public, ensure that you revert back to "Friends" on your next post.
   2. Limit Old Posts - This changes all past posts to being shared with friends only.  I recommend that you select this option unless you have older posts that you want shared with others beyond immediate your friends.
   3. Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided - Everyone.  If someone has my email address, I am comfortable with them sending me a friend request.  Since I keep my information relatively private I am not worried about them seeing my account.
   4. Do you want other search engines to link to your  timeline - Uncheck box.  This controls if someone can look up your timeline on a search engine like Google.
2. Select Timeline and Tagging:
   1. Who can post on your timeline:    Friends
   2. Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline:    Off. Since tags are only shared with friends, I am not concerned with monitoring them.  However, you may want to set this to On, especially for a child's Facebook.
   3. Who can see posts you've been tagged in on your timeline:    Friends
   4. Who can see what others post on your timeline:    Friends
   5. Review tags people add to your own posts before the tags appear on facebook:  Off  Because of the other privacy settings I am not concerned about people tagging me on my posts.  However, you may with to set this to On, especially for a child's facebook page.
   6. When you're tagged in a post, who do you want to add to the audience if they aren't already in it:  Only Me
   7. Who sees tag suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded:  No One
3. Select Apps in the left column
   1. Verify that Apps you use only contains apps that you actively use.  I strongly recommend limiting the apps you use for security and privacy purposes.
   2. Edit Apps others use. I only allow apps others use to access my Birthday, My Website and If I'm online. While I trust my friends' judgement, I don't trust the judgement of my friends' apps, especially with regards to my personal information and how it used.
   3. Instant Personalization - Off
   4. Old versions of Facebook for mobile - Friends
4. Select Ads in the left column
   1. Third Party Sites - No One
   2. Ads and Friends - No One
5. Select Facebook in top left corner and then select Edit Profile under your name.
   1. Select edit next to each section, then hover over the icon to determine with whom that information is shared.  Edit as desired.
   2. To make it easier for people to find me, I share my College, Current City and website publicly.  All other information is only shared with friends.

These settings will provide you with a relatively locked down Facebook implementation.  Please remember that no matter how 'locked down' your settings are, it's best to assume that anything you post may well be viewed by anyone and everyone.  Also, if you have a child on facebook (or are looking for a job), it may be best to have all tags reviewed before posting.  Not only can tags be used for bullying and ridicule, but a tag of an individual in a compromising situation could have significant long-term impact.

Quickstart's guide to iPhone 4 and iOS4

I apologize for my absence!  Fortunately, work at Viant has been extremely busy.  However, with the release of iOS4 and iPhone 4 I realized I needed to put my lame excuses aside and get back to work on a new blog post.

 

First, if you are looking for some great reviews on the iPhone you can check out the links at the end of the article.  This is just a quick highlight of some key new features.
 

Hardware

The new phone is great to hold.  I love the new design as it doesn't feel like it's going to slip out of my hand and the buttons are very easy to access.  The screen is just as amazing as everyone says and it is reportedly 30% faster than the prior iPhone, has twice as much memory and much improved battery life.  Also added is an improved video camera (720P), improved call quality a front facing camera.  There are two items to be aware of.  First, the signal bar is going to show a weaker signal than it actually has.  This is a software issue that will be resolved in a software update.  Second, it has been reported that touching the iPhone in the lower left hand corner of the phone while on a call can cause signal

 

Software (iOS4)

The new software adds several new features:

1. Multi-tasking:  Only certain applications support this feature and in limited fashion.  However, I appreciate the fact that my GPS will continue running in the background while I take a phone call and that I can continue listening to music on Pandora while checking email.  It's not as functional as the Droid's multi-tasking, but it's a great step forward.
2. Folders for applications:  The first thing I did is take all of Apple's stupid applications that I can't delete (e.g. Stock Ticker, Weather and iTunes store) and dumped them in a folder called "Lame".  To do this simply tap an icon and hold it till it wiggles.  Then drag icons on top of each other to create folders.  It's really that easy.  You will be prompted to create a folder name.

3. Updated Double Tap:  Double tapping the home button now gives you a list of recently used applications (and if you scroll to the left you get the iPod controls).  This is also how you switch to a new application while leaving the current application running.

4. Email:  Emails are now threaded by conversation by default.  This is a great new feature and very intuitive to use.  You are also provided with the option of viewing each mailbox individually or viewing one consolidated inbox.  To toggle between views use the Mailbox tab in the top right-hand corner.

 

Well, hopefully this is a good start.  In my next blog post we'll begin digging into some of the new features in iOS4 and how to take advantage of them.

 

Reviews:

• Engadget
• Walt Mossberg (WSJ)
• David Pogue (NY Times)
• USA Today

Quick Tip - Paste Special

Knowing how to use "Paste Special" can be a great time saver when pasting content from one document to another.  By selecting "Paste Special" and then choosing the "Unformatted Text" option, you can remove all formatting from the content you are pasting so that what is pasted assumes the formatting of your current document.  This is especially useful when pasting information from the Web into a Word Document.  The hotkey for "Paste Special" is <Ctrl> <Alt> <V>.

Avoiding new wave of viruses

There are a host of new viruses that sneak onto computers by posing as anti-virus software.  These viruses have names like Antivirus2010, Total Security and the likes.  Unfortunately, the creators of these viruses pay money to legitimate ad-engines and so you get their pop-ups just like you would any other pop-up.  The difference is that their pop-ups look like a Windows message, not a pop-up, and the message tells you that your computer is infected with a virus.  (note:  A great way to avoid viruses of this nature all together is to run Firefox with the Adblock plus plugin which will prevent you from ever seeing most of these pop-ups.)

The first pop-up will often look something like the one below.  The key give-away that this is not a real virus warning is that it says Windows Internet Explorer on the bar at the top (note where it says "Windows Internet Explorer" in the blue message bar at the top).  The safest way to close this message is to press alt-F4 at the same time which is an easy way to close the open window without having to click on anything.

Your also liable to see a message that looks likes one of the messages below.  If you see any of these messages, reboot immediately and then run your virus scanning software.  The messages boxes can be very confusing and so it is very easy to accidentally install the virus.  By rebooting as soon as you notice the message you greatly reduce the chance of actually getting the virus.

 

If you do get the virus, Malware Bytes tends to do a good job of removing these viruses (although sometimes additional software is needed).  Do not try to remove these viruses manually as there are so many variants that any documentation you can find on manual removal is most likely incomplete and will not fully remove the virus.

Remember, be smart, read before you click, keep your computer and your anti-virus software up to date and you'll have the best chances of staying safe on the internet.

iPhone 3.0 - it's not just for entertainment anymore!

On June 17th Apple will be releasing the iPhone 3.0 software update.  I recently obtained a pre-release of the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software update and have been very pleased.  This update addresses a number of the key shortcomings in the iPhone that have been frustrating iPhone users for years.

1. Search - This is HUGE!  In addition to adding search to eMail, they've also added a page that provides a unified search of email, contacts and calendar.  From the main screen press the center button and you're ready to search.  This is a great way to look up phone numbers.
2. Cut & Paste - Apple has finally brought Cut & Paste to the iPhone.  They did a nice job of making this intuitive and easy to use.
3. Landscape email and text - This makes it easier to read certainly HTML formatted email and also provides a larger keyboard which can help make typing easier as well.
4. Turn by Turn navigation - Apple will now allow turn-by-turn navigation on the iPhone.  Expect to see some product releases soon after June 17th.
5. Meeting invites from Calendar - If you are an Exchange user, you can now create meetings and invite atendees from your phone.  I'm often scheduling meetings on the go, and so I'm very excited to see them include this in the new release.

So, while there's nothing flashy here, there are a number of foundational improvements that help transition the iPhone from simply being the coolest phone for business, to being one of the best phones for business.

Outlook 2007 Performance Issues Resolved!

I've been a huge fan of Microsoft Outlook 2007.  The changes from Outlook 2003 aren't overwhelming, but there are nice additions such as Integrated Search, the To-Do Bar and including Auto-Preview for attachments in the Reading-Pane.  I've also been a huge fan of Outlook's integration with SharePoint which is available in Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. 

One issue I have had with Outlook 2007 is the frequent freezes during the send/receive process (especially when work remotely).  Microsoft is in the process of releasing SP2 for Microsoft Office which will include a fix for this performance issue.  However, we don't have to wait for Office 2007 SP2 to get the fix!  Microsoft has released the hotfix for Outlook performance issues that can be downloaded here.  The patch requires a password which is: IBLyKz[k

If you are a Viant customer and would like for us to assist you with this installation, just give us a call or shoot us an email and we will be glad to take care of this for you.  If you are not a Viant customer but would like to here about how we may be able to serve your organization, give me a call at 678-889-6089 x101 and I'll be glad to talk with you about our service offerings.

Foxit - A Great PDF Reader

I have always used Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing pdf files.  Not so much because I like the program, but because it is the mostly widely used program for viewing .pdf files.  I've never really liked Adobe's Reader, it's slow to open, hogs system resources, and is prone to security issues.

Several months ago I began using Foxit Reader as my primary pdf reader, and I'm loving it!  Foxit is compact, opens quickly and uses minimal system resources.  They took a tip from the web browser world and recently added tabbed viewing!  Instead of having to jump back between multiple windows, .pdf's are neatly arranged in a single window with tabs at the top for navigation.

Foxit reader can be downloaded from http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/.  They have a free version (my personal favorite) and a pay for version which includes a text converter, commenting tools and a few other features.

Troubleshooting Entourage Sync Issues

Below are a few quick steps to try if Entourage stops behaving properly (e.g. fails to sync, creates duplicate items, etc).  This is by no means an exhaustive list, but will resolve a large number of issues.

1. Update Office:  There have been a number of updates for Office that address a number of performance issues.  Using the automatic update feature in Office ensure you’re fully up to date.
2. Reset Cache:  In Entourage, right click on your account name in the Folder List on left column.  Select Properties and then click the “Empty Cache”  This will remove all items from Entourage and it will resync with the server from scratch.
3. Rebuild Database:  Hold Option Key while starting Entourage.  Run database repair utility.