Yesterday I wrote about a software package I was reviewing and that I stopped before going too far because of some security issues.
A little after 5:00 yesterday, I received a call from the company. The regional manager explained why they sent out the password in clear text and stated they turned that “feature” off and it will not appear again.
We discussed some of the other concerns and I hope to hear back later today because their system has some nice features.
It seems we’re always reviewing new software. This morning it was a new CRM system.
One of the major concerns I have with any information being stored on the web is security. A businesses customers are one of its most valuable assets and trusting that information to anther entity is not done lightly.
So on to the review from this morning.
On the surface the software appeared to have potential as it not only worked on the web, but BlackBerry’s also. It started out when I subscribed for a trial account. The next thing I see come into my inbox is a link to the log in to the website which was not secured and my password which was sent in clear text. And this is from a company interested in holding customer data! To say I was shocked by such a blatant disregard for security procedures is an understatement.
I sent the company an email with my thoughts and concerns, and as of yet they have not answered. Another sign that this would not be a company to recommend.
Earlier today on my way home from the office, the Saratoga County Sheriff Department had a road check. They have these periodically in different parts of the county, today’s being in Clifton Park. Without exception, everyone of the Deputy’s has been professional and pleasant. The men and women in this department are a great asset to Saratoga County.
On the other hand, several weeks ago while on the way to the office on a Sunday, my wife noticed a dog along side the Northway (I87). I had also noticed a State Trooper on the side of one of the side streets, talking with another Trooper. Being a dog lover, I went back to report the incident to the Troopers. Instead of the Trooper thanking me for taking his time, his demeanor was that I was an interruption in his day and his attitude bordered on arrogance.
The lesson I take from this is unless we are under severe stress, we should always maintain a good attitude as the experience one takes from the interaction lingers and gets passed along.
At the moment I am a little perplexed regarding the latest jobless numbers. Our sister company which is a web development firm has had several ads for a job opening in all of the local colleges as well as many of the job banks in New York. We have received a total of six resumes and four of them had absolutely no experience. So if there are so many people out of work, why aren’t more people applying for the position?
Maslow’s hammer theory states “When the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
So you may be asking what has that got to do with technology?
Well, I think there is a similar tie-in. Many people use the wrong tool for the job. Let’s take twitter for instance. This is a great piece of technology (when it is working properly), which lets people communicate to many very easily. But just because a business can send out tweets that they are offering a happy hour special, doesn’t mean they should tweet every time someone walks in the door or they order a new drink.
Email is another tool which gets misused quite a bit. How many times have you sent emails back and forth when a simple phone call would have put the issue to bed in a matter of moments?
Speaking of the phone, there are times when texting makes more sense. When the need arises to contact someone attending a conference, texting is a great way to let them know they are needed. It provides a good method of communication while not disturbing others.
And while we’re on the subject of not disturbing others; How about not using technology at all when we’re at the movies?
This past week a bug in Facebook’s regular update process, private messages from a user were inadvertently sent out. There are many privacy concerns which each of us needs to take into consideration before we signup and use free services. Facebook, twitter, and other such companies offer superb tools for communication. But they are just that, tools. It is up to us to determine what should be posted or sent. Corporate accounts are generally the safest, but the company usage policy needs to be read to make sure email can be used for personal business. Also some companies may routinely go through a users email box for compliance reasons or to make sure there is no inappropriate or illicit material. Some people simply don’t care about privacy while others may not fully understand the possible ramifications of a message, email or photo getting into the wrong hands.
For the moment I’m back to using a BlackBerry Curve. The BlackBerry user interface is so very well thought out. Using this Smartphone it is very easy to be productive while not in the office. After time spent with other devices, it is great to have a BlackBerry back. A friend recently asked for my opinion on a Smartphone for him and as he is on a budget I suggested a new Curve from Verizon Wireless. At just under $30.00 it is hard to go wrong with this choice for business purposes. The one caveat is I am unable to use TeleNav for my GPS navigation, I had to go back to VZ Navigator. For the heck of it I did a dry run from a trip I made this past weekend and the directions from the VZ Navigator were off. While I would eventually arrive at my destination, it was not the fasted route by any stretch of the imagination. Oh Bold where are you?
Let me begin by providing you with my background so you have a basis upon which to base my reviews. My time using (Personal Digital Assistants) PDA’s dates back to the HP OmniGo, one of the original devices. I have owned about ten different Palm devices, along with smart phones from BlackBerry, Qualcomm, Motorola and Nokia. I am a very heavy user of calendar, tasks, notes and contacts and have tens of thousands of entries. In all the time I have used PDA’s I doubt I have played an hours worth of games. I do rely on reading PDF’s, Word documents, some Excel spreadsheets, and am a heavy user of email, texting and the Internet.
Recently I tried an HTC Imagio running Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional. I found the screen very touch and the time to complete a task dramatically longer than when using a BlackBerry device. I couldn’t take more than about 10 days of using it as my productivity dropped and the phone just doesn’t cut it for business purposes, in my opinion. The only positive to the device was the ability to manually set how far back I wanted the calendar to go. Syncing with Microsoft Exchange worked as expected with no issues.
This past weekend I purchased a Palm Pre. The form factor is very good. Once you get the hang of the gestures, the user interface works spectacularly. While the keyboard is small, I found it easy to use and the accuracy very good. When typing, the Palm Pre does not automatically add a period when pressing the space bar twice as BlackBerry’s do.
The Palm Pre does not have the ability to set items as private, so if you are synching to an Exchange Server and others have access to your calendar, everything typed into the Pre calendar will be available for all to see. Memos and tasks do not automatically synchronize with Exchange.
While reading PDF documents on the Palm Pre works, it requires a fair amount of scrolling.
The multi-tasking is fantastic. I had Verizon’s VZ Navigator, the calendar, Opera, the weather and several other applications running simultaneously. Very cool.
Overall the Palm Pre is a very nice device for those who do not require a heavy duty business PDA.
Many people take 7/24 and 365 a little too seriously. Granted the majority of us want to provide the best service possible for those we work for, but we also have families, need to eat, should be exercising, and many of us attend a church or synagogue.
Is that BlackBerry or iPhone in your pocket taking precedence over everything else? Do you ever turn it off? While these devices can be a great asset, they need to be used in their proper places and at the right times. Recently I caught myself using my BlackBerry while watching a movie at home.
If your having dinner with family or friends, turn off or silence your phone or PDA. Putting it on vibrate is still an interruption. In our always on, give it to me now world, it is important we take a break and give our minds some off time. It will not only help you, your spouse or significant other will surely appreciate it.
Enjoy Valentine’s Day – without your little friend.
Recently I have been having a go around with my BlackBerry Tour and a BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server). I am a big fan of the BlackBerry interface, as I believe they got a lot right. Switching between tasks handling email and appointments and other items which need to be addressed throughout the day, makes the BlackBerry a worthy tool. However this past week we implemented a BES server to sync our Microsoft Exchange accounts. The ability to browse folders on the BES server from my BlackBerry is very handy, however RIM’s (Research In Motion) policy is only a 2 week retention for calendar entries. Since my calendar dates back substantially longer than 2 weeks, this posed a big problem.
So at the moment I had to bench my BlackBerry Tour and am trying an HTC Imagio. I am using Active Sync for the connection between my HTC Imagio and our Exchange Server. One issue which has been resolved is the ability to set the retention policy for calendar entries. At first use though, it looks like I may have to give up quite a bit in functionality.
Update
I have been able to restore all calendar entries to a BlackBerry Curve using the following procedure.
First I set the BlackBerry Calendar option to keep appointments forever, then I disabled the Wireless Synchronization on the BlackBerry. Next I connected the BlackBerry to the BlackBerry Desktop Manager I set the Desktop Synchronization to only the calendar entries and to transfer all of them. I then ran the synchronization.