Remote access is something of an occasional tool for most people. They might use it to help mom find that website, but for us in I.T., this is a fundamental tool, nearly as important as a web browser or a file manager. I’ve written about other tools, such as Logmein, that abandoned it’s free users, […]
Well, it’s official. We’re not only going to have a federal election this year, but also a provincial election in Ontario. It’s shaping up to be a “Doug Ford vs Everyone” sort of election with attacks on him aplenty. My plan is not to use this space as a means to endorse anyone, but as a chance to set alight some of the blind spots you might have leading up to February 27, 2025.
Sure, we all need to have patience for travel, though it seems like something fishy might be going on with this new fare class.
Smartphones are devices that rule our lives. They now cost more than a mortgage payment to purchase. They hold everything important to us. They’ve become so fundamental to everything we do. When we lose one, it can feel like we’ve lost an appendage. This summer, I left my phone behind at a park and it […]
That writing needs to hold some value is not a new concept. Those that write have some basic intuition that what they create needs to have some intrinsic value. Of course, if I want to write a science fiction story, it should entertain and enlighten those who read it. When I write on this blog, […]
I’ve been writing a book for a very long time. In fact, I think I’ve been on this book for more than two years. Two years of going away, distracted by all that life offers, and returning to inch along, trying to add to my word count. One thing I’ve become very familiar with is returning cold to a book that’s been in some form of completion. Here’s how I approach this.
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.
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.
The story is all too common: I go onto Kijiji (a Canadian Craigslist clone) and find what I had been looking for: an iPad. I see the post’s price and presume it’s an “anchor” price, so I start off asking if the device is available and if they’d take a lower number. What follows is finding out the iPad posting was misrepresented as a “personal” sale, when in fact it was a business selling the product at a firm price, quoted without tax. Another asshole muddying what’s known as the “grey” market for the rest of us. Too many of these types of experiences, and you start to wonder if this can ever be improved past this level of failed experiment.
You might think the two of these have nothing in common, but I find it surprising how these two share similar tactics. In fact, taking a similar approach to writing information in each place might improve your odds of getting that message accross clearly and concisely. You may be the type of person that writes one-word message in email and Tinder profiles; and this wouldn’t be an article for you. For everyone else, however, read on to see these two in action.