We talk a lot about business and technology and all of that good stuff here on the TS Tech blog, but believe it or not, there are (at least) a couple things in life that are more important that that. One of the big ones is personal health. This goes double for all you hard workers out there who put in long stressful hours trying to run and manage your business - it's easy to forget or skip over the routines for proper health maintenance. Unfortunately, we don't offer a flat-rate remote monitoring and maintenance service for humans, but here are a few tips you can do to keep yourself in tip-top shape while on the job.

Ever since the public has been logging on to the Internet, certain people have been using the Internet to take advantage of others. Whether it be through scams, viruses, malware, phishing, or a whole slew of other dangerous activity, cyber criminals have been very good at making Internet security an industry on its own. With the colossal popularity of social networks like Twitter and Facebook, miscreants are capable of targeting even more users than ever before. On top of that, their methods seem to be hitting people where it hurts. Learn how you can prevent falling into one of their traps.

We talk a lot about smartphones and tablets as business tools, but these days more and more people are using high-end devices personally. It's likely that they are bringing these devices in to work, and often using them to become more productive at their job. We call this Bring-Your-Own-Device, or BYOD, and it isn't a bad thing. The catch is managing security risks when users are using their own personal gadgets.

Staffing Changes

I am sad to say farewell to Jason, a senior staffer and four year member of the TS TECH team. Jason is departing TS TECH to pursue his passion

"Change your battery or switch to outlet power immediately." This is one of the dreaded warnings for any Windows user. No one likes to be interrupted while on a laptop only to be informed that his or her battery is about to die. Is there anything we can do to better save our battery life? The answer is Yes. Here are some simple tips on how to maximize your Windows laptop battery performance.

A lot of Wyomissing small businesses are taking advantage of regular proactive maintenance that keeps their servers and workstations in tip-top shape much longer than their typical lifespan. Amazing amounts of money are saved on new hardware and downtime and everything is just peachy! You've been able to run that old server for years and you have workstations that are still chugging away on Windows XP. What you don't know is that your old technology, even if it is in perfect working order, could be drastically slowing things down for your business.

Foursquare is a social network of sorts that works like a marketing game. Users run Foursquare on their mobile phones. It uses GPS to pinpoint your location and pulls up stores, restaurants, and other public locations and venues in your vicinity. You can then 'check in' to the place you are at, and it will share it with your friends. It's a service that promotes word-of-mouth marketing!

Half the TS TECH team departs Philadelphia for Orlando Florida to attend the annual IT Nation Conference hosted by Connectwise. IT Nation provides the TS TECH team with an educational and fun, out of the office experience. The conference has grown from a two day event to include other vendor events in the days before and after like Quosal Nation, Level Platforms' The Next Level Event, and more. Throughout the event, there are speakers and breakout training sessions on products and industry best practices. TS TECH has attended the event each year since 2007. The 2011 IT Nation is attended by over 1500 IT Partners from all around the globe, and the diverse culture enables people to share meaningful information with the IT community, for the purpose of enhancing our profession.

Todd presents three tips on how to improve your technology proposals at the First Quosal Nation Event during the IT Nation 2011 pre-event program

First: Sign up for and use online credit card processing with order porter.  It is extremely easy to setup, people love to shop and pay online, people want to earn Amex points and it simplifies your collections process.

Second: Have your Quotes & Order Porter tie into your website.  Link the quote back with different pages on your website to provide supplemental information.  We do this with or satisfaction guarantee and information about our services.

Third: Review Large project quotes in person.  Quosal is a great tool for organizing your proposal, but there is no substitution for face time with your prospective client.  By sitting down in person and reviewing a proposal you are able to address any concerns and questions that might arise from the content of the proposal.