ANTenna Blog -- August 02, 2009 - August 08, 2009 Archive

OpenOffice.org Gives The "Ribbon" A Try

Posted by Matthew McKenzie 07:10 PM ET | Aug 7, 2009

OpenOffice.org is trying on a new user interface for size. Guess what it looks almost exactly like?

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Hardware & Software | Open Source

Tips For Virtual Offices

Posted by Jake Widman 03:07 PM ET | Aug 7, 2009

The Worldwide Workplace Council has released a report titled "5 Simple Steps to a Virtual Workplace Program," which identifies how SMBs can achieve the flexibility and employee satisfaction that can come from telecommuting.

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IT Management | Management

Top 3 Bots: Billions (With A B!) Of Spams A Day!

Posted by Keith Ferrell 10:53 AM ET | Aug 7, 2009

How much havoc can a botnet wreak? Too much, according to MessageLabs, which reports that the top 3 bots are spewing 21 billion spams a day.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Security

Is Your Linux Distro Here For The Long Haul?

Posted by Matthew McKenzie 05:15 PM ET | Aug 6, 2009

Trying to pick the right Linux distro for your small business? Read this before you make another move.

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Hardware & Software | IT | Linux | Open Source

Twitter Takedown: DDoS Attack Beats Tweets

Posted by Keith Ferrell 12:14 PM ET | Aug 6, 2009

Twitter was shut down for a couple of hours this morning by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack; blogsite LiveJournal went down too, and the rumors flew that FaceBook was having traffic troubles of its own.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Messaging | Security | Social Networking

July Jobs Report: Less Down Is Still Down

Posted by Gayle Kesten 11:28 AM ET | Aug 6, 2009

The numbers are still nothing to cheer about -- especially among the 279,000 small and midsize business employees affected -- but at the very least, fewer jobs were lost last month than reported for June, according to the ADP's latest National Employment Report.

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Company Size: 1-49 | Economics

PDF Tools For The Mac

Posted by Jake Widman 12:21 AM ET | Aug 6, 2009

Yesterday, bMighty blogger Matthew McKenzie ran down some Acrobat alternatives for Windows users. But there are some useful PDF tools Mac-using businesses should know about too; here are a few.

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Apple | Company Size: 1-49 | Hardware & Software | Open Source

Openbravo And Ubuntu: A New Small-Biz ERP Option

Posted by Matthew McKenzie 07:03 PM ET | Aug 5, 2009

Openbravo and Canonical have partnered on an open-source ERP offering that could prove attractive to small and midsized businesses.

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Business & E-Business | Finance/Accounting | Hardware & Software | IT | Linux | Open Source | SMB Vendor News

New Add-It Yourself Business Directory

Posted by Jake Widman 03:13 PM ET | Aug 5, 2009

Bizwiki.com provides a Wikipedia-style opportunity for businesses to list and describe themselves. The intent is to build the "most detailed and up-to-date index of business in the United States."

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Web 2.0

Turn Off Auto-Updates Before Hitting the Road

Posted by Keith Ferrell 03:30 PM ET | Aug 4, 2009

The convenience of automatic software updates can create major problems if apps are updated via unsecured public Wi-Fi connections. Hotspots make great hijack spots, and as a result, your mobile employees need to make some adjustments in their update settings.

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Internet/Web | Mobile | Networking & Communications | Security

Tools That Help You Say No To Acrobat's PDF Bloat

Posted by Matthew McKenzie 03:13 PM ET | Aug 4, 2009

These days, it pays to keep an eye out for lightweight, low-cost IT management tools that still get the job done. That is especially true when it comes to working with PDF documents.

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Company Size: 1-49 | Hardware & Software | Open Source | Printers/Printing

Microsoft Applications, Cheap And Legal

Posted by Jake Widman 02:14 PM ET | Aug 4, 2009

A colleague has posted a rundown of ways to avoid paying full freight for Microsoft software, including several that a clever SMB could benefit from.

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Hardware & Software

Glide Engage Is No Twitter

Posted by Gayle Kesten 11:57 AM ET | Aug 4, 2009

Micro (adj.): very small; involving minute quantities or variations. Sorry, I just had to double check that definition after reading about a new "microblogging" service that wants to take on Twitter.

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Business & E-Business | Company Size: 1-49 | Entrepreneurs | Internet/Web | Social Networking | Start-Ups

IBM Packages Data Protection Solution

Posted by Jake Widman 07:45 PM ET | Aug 3, 2009

As the first product of a new initiative to provide integrated solutions for midsize companies, IBM has introduced a new data protection package. The package is available at a promotional price of nearly 40% off.

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Backup | Company Size: 250-999 | Company Size: 50-249 | Disaster Recovery

Secure Certificate Vulnerabilities Revealed

Posted by Keith Ferrell 10:06 AM ET | Aug 3, 2009

The SSL Certificate that tells visitors a site is certified as trustworthy may be easier to fake than previously thought. And that's one more reminder that the whole system of trust authorization is in need of work.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Security