December 2006

Recently, we took our van into the dealership to replace the brake pads. Expecting a small repair, we were shocked to receive a call from the dealer indicating we would need to replace the rotors as well, to the tune of about $1,100. We were upset, and my wife brought up an interesting point. She said that the dealer should have proactively sent a notice *before* there was a problem. In her opinion, the dealer let us down because they did not help until after there was a major problem. I reflected on this, and realized our clients probably expect that we provide early, proactive advice as well. So, we will be rolling out a formal program over the next few months to do just that.

Google and Microsoft have been working hard to bring color satellite images to your computer, free. Simply type in any street address, and up comes a satellite image of the location. For more info, read the full text.

An Excel function worth knowing is Vlookup(). It allows you to pull in information from other worksheets. For more information, read the full text...

Can an electronic device really change your life? My Blackberry sure changed mine. My Blackberry phone, with email, has certainly allowed me to provide more responsive more timely customer service. Full details in the full text version.

Open Source. It is changing everything. If you do not know what this term means, read on.

If there are any tech questions you have, or if you would like to see certain technology topics addressed, please let me know. Email me at jeff@clickconsulting.com. Submit tech questions, and we will answer them in the next newsletter. If you have topic requests, let me know, we will write about them in the next newsletter.

It is with great pleasure we welcome two new staff! Jake Hartwell and Claire Matthews. They report up to Brad on the development side. We are so thrilled they are here, and they have already been making significant contributions. We are fortunate to have them.