Why You Shouldn't Be Using Windows 7

As of July 2020, Microsoft Windows 7 still controls around 20% of total desktop operating systems worldwide.

A couple of reasons why you don’t want to still be using Microsoft Windows 7:

• It’s no longer receiving security updates as Microsoft ended mainstream support for the product in January 2020. That means its existing vulnerabilities are forever; aggressors will be able to exploit those problems forever.
  

• Consequently, the US FBI issued a warning on August 3, 2020 about continuing to use the legacy operating system, as has the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has directly warned users not to use Windows 7 for commercial activities like email or banking.
  

• If the appeal-to-authority doesn’t work for you, how about money? IBM recently reported that the average cost of a data breach in the United States is $3.86 million.
  

• And, yeah, cyber security insurance. You think you’re covered. It’s not like your cyber security policy is going to cover you if you’re running a known-bad o/s. That’s just raw negligence, kids.

Now, you have options.

• Like Mac’s? After January 2021, Apple will be transitioning to ARM microprocessors. Lots of techie stuff here but the bottom line is that Macs are soon going to get hundreds of dollars cheaper. Cool! Upgrades!
  

• But if don’t have a cool $1k to drop on a new machine, and if you’re married to the Google Cloud Ecosystem, there’s never been a better time to update to a Chromebook or a Chromebox. There’s a lot of great boxes out there, some priced at a 1/3rd of the cost of a comparable Microsoft Windows 10 computer. They boot in eight seconds, they’re encrypted, they receive automatic updates that don’t break them, they are significantly more secure than Windows will ever be … why not?
  

• Okay, so maybe Google ain’t your thing. If you have an older machine still running Windows 7, and you’re comfortable with the machine’s overall performance and still want to use it, and you’re mostly using a web browser to access online services, consider installing Linux. I’d recommend Ubuntu or its cousin, Zorin. They’re more secure than Windows, won’t break your system, and will make the older machines run like they were new.
  

• If you’re still using Microsoft Word and Excel? Are you dependent on some 3rd party application that has to run on Windows? You could upgrade your Windows 7 machine to Windows 10, sure, it’s only a $100. That’s a lot cheaper than $3.86 million. But watch the performance hit. You’d probably be better off just replacing the asset.

Here’s the thing: continuing to use an obsolete product is only making you more vulnerable, and, more of a target to aggressors who look at you and your data as an easy target. There’s no reason why you’d rationally want to be an easier target for hackers. Take action today to replace that old machine. Do something!

R

How to Add Linux Software to a Chromebook

First, you’ll want to make sure that your Chromebook/Chromebox can support the Linux shell.

Next, you’ll want to enable the Linux Shell (beta) on your Chromebook. Through enabling this feature, you’re installing a virtual machine running each application within it’s own private sandbox.

You should allocate a minimum of 5GB of drive space to your new VM; options for the VM can be managed within Chrome OS Settings.

Then we’ll perform a number of technical steps to update the repository keys used by the Crostini Project.

From your Chrome OS start, open terminal, and run:

sudo apt-key adv --refresh-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com

Now we’re going to do package updates:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Now, after all this, you’re ready to install apps by command line within terminal. Those applications would then appear in Chrome OS Start, Software.

However, some users may want to use a graphic user interface to browse and install Linux software. So let’s install Gnome with this command within terminal:

sudo apt-get install gnome-software gnome-packagekit -y

After Gnome is installed, close terminal and entirely reboot your Chromebook. Once it’s back up, go back into terminal and execute:

sudo apt-get upgrade -y

You’re almost done. Complete another reboot and return to Chrome OS to access it’s start then Software app. Be patient - your Linux VM is spinning up to present Gnome to you.

And from here, you can navigate with a GUI to find applications, install them, remove them, and run them via the Software section of Chrome OS.

Remember that there’s a performance hit for running these applications within the VM. You’ll want to open Linux applications sparingly, especially if you’re running on a lesser processor and have limited RAM.

How Small Businesses Will Survive COVID-19

It’s undeniable that small businesses face unprecedented challenges in the age of COVID. These are difficult times for everybody and - arguably - the difficulties are just beginning.

Still, regardless if it were a hurricane, a major earthquake, a financial crisis, or a pandemic, it’s my view that small businesses have a competitive advantage during tough times that much larger firms do not.

I’m not referring to their smaller size, their nimbleness, or their innate ability to quickly shed fixed costs. Rather, small businesses have a face. Your face.

Your small business has the ability to project sincerity and compassion in a way that larger firms cannot. Your competitive advantage as a small businesses in hard times is kindness.

People. And I’m talking about customers, vendors, employees, and service providers. Even in an extremely disconnected, automated, and disintermediated economy such as ours, in a practical sense, businesses cannot operate without people buying, selling, delivering, shopping, providing, shoveling, mopping, cleaning, browsing, clicking, or calling. People drive every aspect of our business.

In times like these, savvy small business owners would do well to recognize their unique ability to connect with people as an advantage in every transaction. That they have the opportunity to project sincerity and compassion in ways a bigger company cannot.

And that could come in so many forms. More smiles. More listening. Arriving on time and respecting somebody’s time. By not taking a single opportunity for granted. Through offering a simple sticky note to affirm somebody’s great work. By being enthusiastic. By focusing on the good around us rather than chronically dwelling on the bad. And sure, more tangible things like more bonuses, more breaks, more time off, more leeway, more investment in PPE, or more flexibility - understanding that schedules aren’t as reliable as they had been - but the real advantage being exercised here is just human kindness.

Think about the last COVID-19 response you received from your big bank. It was delivered at four in the morning. It said (with a charming, smiling clip-art graphic), “We’re here for you day and night!”, and it offered a link to their website so they could continue to take your money for credit card or loan payments. They’re a huge corporation! They can’t honestly identify with you insomuch as you can relate to them. Inasmuch, your big bank can’t possibly appear sincere, or empathetic, or truly engaged.

Now picture somebody like me, a computer consultant, coming in to your place of work. I arrive on time. I’m dressed professionally. Sure, I smile under my mask these days, but people can see that in my eyes. I engage in friendly conversation, empathize with your current situation, and I quickly resolve the technical matter. I explain what went wrong in easy terms you can understand. Further, I explain strategies for how we might avoid it in the future. I leave you my business card so you can contact me at any time. And I thank you once again for your continued business.

Now, that’s all just something the big tech support firms, the big box stores, and the nameless phone companies can’t do. They’ve focused so much of their business on scale, volume, you’re a number so be a number, take a ticket, leave a message, press a button, wait a day, but please keep having problems, and pay our retainer, keep feeding us money to support our waterfront offices … sigh.

Well, which of those experiences are you going to remember?

Kindness is competitive.

I feel that demonstrating genuine, compassion to others is the value-add that the big guys simply can’t compete with. In good times or in bad. It could be the advantage that inspires your team to keep coming back to work. It could be the gentle reminder of a pleasant experience that brings a customer back. It could be the portrayal of confident professional enthusiasm that’ll prioritize a check for you in the mail this week.

It could be that kindness … is the one thing that makes you, your products, your services, more memorable, and keeps people calling you over somebody else.