Our business needs for accessing the Internet increase substantially every year.  We have WebEx for video conferencing, finance users on an ACCPAC server on campus, Kronos and WorkDay for HR needs, teams/groups use cloud storage such as Box, our region uses (or will soon use) the regional file server on campus.  That is a good deal of traffic going in and out to the Internet.

Yes, our download speeds may be faster than before now that we have Time Warner cable, but it is still a limited resource.   Please be mindful of Internet sites and programs where audio/video or large files are utilized.

What are some simple things you can do to help?

• Internet radio
  (This is our biggest offender for causing our association’s network speeds to slow to a pitiful crawl.)
  I recommend that if you want to listen to the radio in the office, you should go “old school” on this one…. Dust off the radio player in the back of your closet and tune it to your favorite local station.
    
• Keep non-work related Internet usage to a minimum
  We are an organization that embraces social media.  It is a great way to reach our audiences, so we do use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites for work-related purposes.  I don’t want to discourage their usage ever, but please keep your personal use of these sites and other sites to a minimum.    
  This means no watching the latest soap opera on your favorite network during lunch break… :)
    
• Know the symptoms of viruses and malware
  When a computer is infected with a virus or malware, it can slow down your association network.  Please read the previous blog posts about preventing and knowing the symptoms of viruses: 
  So You Think You Have A Virus?
  SPAM - Phishing E-mails
  If you suspect you have a virus, please let your local IT contact or me know ASAP. 
    
• Steer clear of Google Drive’s desktop application
  Google Docs is great for sharing documents and collaborating with a team.  But if you use Google Drive, please access it via the web browser (http://drive.google.com) and not the desktop program.  Unfortunately, the desktop program will slow down your network, even when it’s idle and not syncing your documents.  
  • More information about this issue: http://raisedbyturtles.org/google-drive-bandwidth-problems-make-it-vastly-inferior-to-dropbox/
  • Alternative to Google Drive:  https://cornell.box.com

Mobile Devices connected to our WIRELESS - PLEASE remember:  Even if your mobile device is connected to the guest wireless in the building, it’s still connected to the same Time Warner Internet line that we use for business.  This means if you are listening to internet radio on your smart phone, connected to the guest wireless, it’s using our network bandwidth, the same as if you were listening to it on your computer.

For Microsoft Outlook

Does your work involve a lot of e-mail checking and replying?  (I know mine does!) I just found this really great resource for Outlook keyboard shortcuts and I thought I would share.   

• Alt + . (period) Open the Address Book with the To field selected
• Alt + A Open the Action drop-down menu
• Alt + B Open the Address Book with the BCC field selected
• Alt + C Select message recipients for CC field
• Alt + D Switch to Daily calendar view
• Alt + E Open the Edit drop-down menu
• Alt + F Open the File drop-down menu
• Alt + G Open the Go drop-down menu
• Alt + H Open the Help drop-down menu
• Alt + I Open the Find tool bar / Open the Insert drop-down menu
• Alt + J Move to the Subject field
• Alt + K Check names in the To, CC, or BCC field against the Address Book (cursor must be in the corresponding message header field)
• Alt + L Reply All
• Alt + M Switch to Monthly calendar view
• Alt + N Open the Accounts drop-down menu
• Alt + O Open the Format drop-down menu / Switch to Today calendar view
• Alt + P Open the Message Options dialog box
• Alt + R Reply / Switch to Work Week Calendar view
• Alt + S Send
• Alt + T Open the Tools drop-down menu
• Alt + V Open the View drop-down menu
• Alt + W Forward an item / Switch to Weekly calendar view
• Alt + Y Switch to Daily calendar view
• Ctrl + 1 Go to Mail
• Ctrl + 2 Go to Calendar
• Ctrl + 3 Go to Contacts
• Ctrl + 4 Go to Tasks
• Ctrl + 5 Go to Notes
• Ctrl + 6 Go to Folder List
• Ctrl + 7 Go to Shortcuts
• Ctrl + 8 Go to Journal
• Ctrl + A Select all
• Ctrl + B Bold when editing a rich text message
• Ctrl + C Copy
• Ctrl + D Delete an item (message, task, contact, etc.)
• Ctrl + E Activate the Find drop-down menu / Center Align when editing a rich text message
• Ctrl + F Forward
• Ctrl + J Open a new Journal Entry from the selected item (message, task, contact, etc.)
• Ctrl + K Check names in the To, CC, or BCC field against the Address Book (cursor must be in the corresponding message header field)
• Ctrl + M Send/Receive all
• Ctrl + O Open
• Ctrl + P Print
• Ctrl + Q Mark the selected message Read
• Ctrl + R Reply
• Ctrl + S Save a draft message
• Ctrl + T Tab
• Ctrl + U Mark the selected message Unread
• Ctrl + V Paste
• Ctrl + X Cut
• Ctrl + Y Go to Folder
• Ctrl + Z Undo
• Ctrl + Backspace Delete the previous word
• Ctrl + End Move to the end
• Ctrl + Home Move to the beginning
• Ctrl  Shift  A Open a new Appointment
• Ctrl  Shift  B Open the Address Book
• Ctrl  Shift  C Create a new Contact
• Ctrl  Shift  E Open a new folder
• Ctrl  Shift  F Open the Advanced Find window
• Ctrl  Shift  G Flag message for follow up
• Ctrl  Shift  J Open a new Journal Entry
• Ctrl  Shift  K Open a new Task
• Ctrl  Shift  L Open a new Distribution List
• Ctrl  Shift  M Open a new Message
• Ctrl  Shift  N Open a new Note
• Ctrl  Shift  O Switch to the Outbox
• Ctrl  Shift  P Open the New Search Folder window
• Ctrl  Shift  Q Open a new Meeting Request
• Ctrl  Shift  R Reply All
• Ctrl  Shift  S Open a new Discussion
• Ctrl  Shift  U Open a new Task Request
• Ctrl  Shift  Y Copy a Folder
• Shift + Tab Select the previous message header button or field
• F1 Open Outlook Help
• F3 Activate the Find toolbar
• F4 Open the Find window
• F7 Spellcheck
• F9 Send and receive all
• F10 Select File from the Outlook toolbar button
• F11 Activate the “Find a contact” dialog box
• F12 Save As
• Alt + F4 Close the active window

Source: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/80-keyboard-shortcuts-for-microsoft-outlook/

Are you working on documents that need to be saved on a network drive?  Or in a subfolder of a subfolder of a subfolder?  Or are you working on a project or event where you need to constantly save or access documents to that folder?  Create a favorite or shortcut!!  You can create shortcuts in many places and in many ways, I will show you two of the most popular ways.

Create a desktop shortcut

As I’ve gone around to different computers, I’ve seen that people LOVE to save things to the desktop. Why?  Because it can be one of the quickest ways to access a document.  I’ll admit I used to do it too, but I broke myself of that bad habit (mostly), you should too!   So how do you keep the convenience of accessing your files quickly but not have them saved on your desktop?  Create a shortcut on your desktop to that folder or file!

• How-To Video: http://screencast.com/t/o57v1uky9g
• Step by Step Instructions: http://windows.about.com/od/windowsforbeginners/ss/Creating-Shortcuts-Saves-Time_all.htm
  

Side Note:  For those of you who have had a file server or have moved to the new file server, you know that documents should be saved on the file server, not on your local computer.  Why?  Computers aren’t invincible, they can malfunction or be dropped and damaged.  If your computer decides that today is the day that it will never turn on again, what happens to all of your files that weren’t saved on the server?  You can ask your friendly IT person to try and recover them, but there’s the chance they won’t be recoverable. 

Create a Favorite in Windows Explorer
Making a folder a favorite in Windows Explorer is a great time saver when you need to constantly open or save documents to a certain folder.  Please remember that when you do the following, you are not copying, moving or deleting the folder.  You are simply adding (or deleting) a shortcut to that folder.

• Step by Step Instructions: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10357/add-your-own-folders-to-favorites-in-windows-7/
• How-To Video:  http://screencast.com/t/MgrH0y4jX
• Opening/Saving from that shortcut: http://screencast.com/t/9DUQpVew
  

I don’t recommend adding too many folders under your Favorites, it will defeat the purpose of being able to quickly find and access that folder.  When your project/event is over, you can simply remove that folder from your Favorites and add your next project/event folder to your Favorites! J

Side Note:  "Windows Explorer" (also called “File Explorer”) is Microsoft's basic file manager.  "Internet Explorer" is Microsoft's web browser (the big blue E).