In business, I’ve heard it said that we must “Grow or die” (by who, I wonder?). This is one of the more pervasive business myths I see so many in those that run IT consulting companies supporting the SME space. They think that for the business to succeed, it needs to expand the revenue base and hire on a bunch of employees. Yes, this is one path, but there are many other well-worn paths to success in this business. Growth is important and achievable even if your a single person shop. How? By having a growth mindset.
Over the last few months, I’ve noticed the costs of AWS rising steadily I really hit an inflection point: High cost of AWS hosting, dwindling or nonexistent ad revenue, slower and slower Wordpress, and less blogging period. I’m not deserting this blog by any means, I guess I’m just being pragmatic about it
The (pervasive) and conventional wisdom seems to be that all MSP’s and IT solution companies need ticketing systems. All incoming service calls absolutely need to be routed through a ticketing system and not via phone calls or other means. If you seek out advice online in this regard, you’re pummelled with all the stern advice about ticketing systems and the various free (and not so free) options.
Recent news of how Google will mark web pages that are not HTTPS as “Not Secure” had me returning a subject that has held my interest for some time. I have commented on the idea (I’m pro HTTPs), and even switch my site to support this. Given that, you clearly know where I stand, but I also feel my view on this could be changed given a reasonable argument.
This year has been a great year to read books. Whether is was picking up Sapiens in Ireland this summer, or relaxing on a beach in Portugal reading another, I was not without a book in hand for many days this year. I thought I’d share the books I’ve read and feel are worth your time. These aren’t ranked in any particular order, as think they’re all worthy of your attention.
Incredible, I’m still fuming over this, but it’s just as well, we should all be more warty of rental car companies. Now, more than ever, you have to be diligent when looking over rental polices because it’s clear these companies are at war with the consumer. Let me tell you a story where Budget / Avis stole more money from me than the actual rental I used. And, I did nothing wrong.
Public Mobile is a Telus-owned low cost and possibly self-service phone carrier in Toronto. Over the lifetime of my interaction with their service for most of this year. I’ve noted a number of failures and difficulties worth thinking of if you’re interested in a phone company or switching. Be warned, Public Mobile is a phone carrier to avoid in 2017.
Today, Apple’s event heralded a number of firsts. The first to happen that the Steve Jobs Theatre. The first to be almost completely spoiled by leaks, and the first to introduce a phone starting at $999US. Apple was also expected to do but things in augmented reality and include wireless charging. I watched the event and here are my thoughts on what’s coming with Apple.
How tough is it today to be an Electric Vehicle (EV) driver today? Really tough, it turns out. As we sit on the precipice of mass-market adoption, more and more cars are on the road, and the charging infrastructure is not growing nearly as fast as it should. A fact making things worse is all the lip service governments seem to give EV promotion and charger installation, but the results are clear in practice. In all of this is the promise of greater Electric sales and adoption, cleaner energy sources, and price pressures on gas pushing more towards the EV market. But, in my two years of driving an EV, there is a clear dark cloud over charging infrastructure. There aren’t any more “Good” chargers out there.
You might have wondered why licensing Retail versions of Microsoft Office 2016 on Windows has become so cumbersome and clunky and confusing? Why does Microsoft force a login to install and activate Office? Why is this service so bad at showing information and handling more than one installation? If fact, if you have more than one retail copy of Office to install and activate on the same account, you’re in for serious confusion. I can’t answer all these questions, but I’ll show you how to fix this mess so you can install Office and move on.