February 2007

Just wanted to let you all know that the Journal of Accountancy just accepted an article I submitted for publication! It is entitled User Defined Functions, and it describes how to create custom worksheet functions inside of Excel. I am not allowed to put the article on our site until it runs, but when it runs in the magazine the article will be available on our site or on aicpa.org.

Microsoft just released Office 2007. I have had time to play with it, and it is really great. They redesigned the entire interface, and now there are no drop down menus. They replaced the drop down menus with a Tab display and a Ribbon bar. This is the most significant upgrade to MS Office in years. See full article for more info.

I was not sure if this article should be named *Cool Things: SSL-VPN* or *New Service: SSL-VPN* because this is a very cool thing. It is a new, more secure way to provide remote access to your network. Most websites require a username/password for Authentication. However, a hacker can gain access if they can guess or figure out the password. With this new service, both knowledge (the username and password) AS WELL AS possession of a device (your cell phone) are required to gain access. Read the full article for additional info.

We are looking for an Account Manager, who would be responsible for sales. If you know of a computer tech who would be interested, please let us know. We are trying to hire this person through personal referrals if possible. Here are some of the things we are looking for: honest, trustworthy, sincere, confident, not *salesy*, organized, good follow-up skills, strong work ethic, technical. If they would like additional information about the position, have them call the office or email their resume to jeff@clickconsulting.com

A fairly new technology called Virtual Machines allows you to run multiple computers on a single computer. Specifically, you load a Virtual Machine application on your computer or server. Then, when you run the VM application, you can install additional operating systems. Read full article for more detail.

Another publication, Orange County Lawyer Magazine, has accepted an article I did for them. It is called Latent Electronic Documents and Discovery, and it discusses how electronic versions of documents tend to stay around on computers. I am not allowed to put the article on our site until after 30 days after it is published. So, it should go up on our site in April 2007.

Shortly, we will be rolling out a new email backup service. It is a hosted system, and the emails are stored offsite in a secure data center. Saved emails can be retrieved through a website interface. It will be subscription based. When we launch it, we will make an announcement.

Microsoft has recently released its new Operating System, Windows Vista. It is intended to replace Microsoft Windows XP. Read more for highlights.

There are two new security features that we would like to mention. The first is Content Filter. This service is a subscription based service that blocks inappropriate websites from all of your employees. There is no software to install on your computers since the filtering is performed at the firewall level. We strongly encourage using this feature to keep inappropriate websites and content out of your office walls. The next is Gateway Anti-Virus. Read full text for more detail.

Helix. See full text for more info.