pcAmerica Newsletter #345 December 1, 2009

 

 

 

*** To see previous pcAmerica Newsletters, go to:

 

http://www.pcamerica.com/pos_newsletter_archive.html

 

Best Retail and Restaurant Websites, Part 1

New AVG 9.0 Security Suite Good for Business

Does Google Docs in the Clouds Replace Microsoft Office?

Contacting pcAmerica

 

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• Best Retail and Restaurant Websites, Part 1

Here is a list of the best retail and restaurant websites (for business owners and managers).

 

You may want to place each of these sites on your browser favorites list and consider visiting each site at least once per week.

 

If you have a favorite retail or restaurant website not listed below, please email me at:

 

hgosman@pcamerica.com

 

 

Doug Fleener

 

If I had to pick a #1 website, I'd probably pick Doug Fleener's website.

 

Doug Fleener is the president of Dynamic Experience Group. He is a former director of retail for Bose Corporation. He is an author, speaker, and consultant and an expert in helping retail stores raise sales and profits.

 

His website is FREE and offers lots of valuable ideas to help you grow your profits and sales, create a more productive customer experience, and improve staff and manager effectiveness.

 

Above all else, subscribe to Doug's free newsletter (on the front page of his website). By subscribing, you will receive a FREE weekly newsletter with FREE tips to help you grow your business.

 

Visit the Doug Fleener website at:

 

http://www.dougfleener.com/

 

 

 

 

NRF SmartBrief

 

My #2 best website pick is not exactly a website. NRF is the National Retail Federation. SmartBrief publishes industry specific newsletters including a retail newsletter for the NRF.

The daily newsletter is very valuable and informative. Read about retail trends, retail technology, your competitors, and retail statistics and forecasts.

To subscribe to the FREE daily newsletter or see a sample issue go to:

http://www.smartbrief.com/nrf/

To see the present newsletter and previous newsletters without a subscription go to:

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/nrf/archive.jsp?brief=nrf&sid=9a375f81-708d-44e5-a5f7-ca5c11478ab7

 

 

 

RestaurantOwner.com

 

RestaurantOwner.com is my #1 best website pick for restaurant owners and managers.

 

The site is FREE to visit. Many of the items on the site are free. Other items require a $99 per year membership. The weekly email newsletter is FREE and offers many valuable ideas. In addition to the website, RestaurantOwner.com publishes Restaurant Startup & Growth magazine. Every restaurant owner or manager should subscribe. A subscription is $39.95 per year.

 

Visit the RestaurantOwner.com site and navigate around the website. I highly recommend the FREE email newsletter. Just submit your email address on the home page of the website. You can get three FREE issues of the magazine without a credit card by clicking on Receive 3 FREE issues just below the picture of the magazine or just click here:

 

http://www.restaurantowner.com/public/669.cfm

 

Visit RestaurantOwner.com at:

 

http://restaurantowner.com/

 

 

 

 

Nation's Restaurant News

 

Nation's Restaurant News is "the news leader of the foodservice industry" and my #2 best website pick for restaurant owners and managers.

 

A daily visit to the website will give you the latest foodservice news. The website is full of information related to operations, safety, marketing, directories and everything else related to any type of restaurant operation.

 

The website is FREE. You can subscribe to the paper copy for $24.95 per year. You can also subscribe to a FREE e-Newsletter.

 

Visit Nation's Restaurant News at:

 

http://www.nrn.com/

 

 

 

 

More great retail/restaurant sites next week.

 

 

• New AVG 9.0 Security Suite Good for Business

AVG Technologies (formally Grisoft) is a favorite Internet Security Suite (Antispyware and Antivirus) used by many pcAmerica customers.

 

AVG Technologies recently released version 9.0. It has gotten excellent reviews.

 

It's FREE. Well, not really. It is FREE for use in your home for personal use. If you are using it within your business, it's $55.

 

When you download AVG, you should read the agreement. Although you can easily download a copy and install it within your business, you would be violating the license agreement that you click on.

 

The FREE version does not include tech support. I've installed it on lots of non-business computers and it has worked fine. When you download FREE AVG, read what you are clicking on. You want the FREE Basic Edition (unless you are using it in your business). The pay version and the FREE version are just about identical. You get tech support with the pay version along with a few other worthwhile additions.

 

You can download all versions of AVG and use it for 30 days without any payment.

 

Here are my recommendations.

 

If you own a business, I prefer Norton Internet Security 2010. My guess is that AVG 9.0 is only 90% as effective as Norton. Norton Internet Security is $69.95 for 3 users but is frequently on sale at prices below $40.

 

If you absolutely refuse to pay for Internet Security Software, AVG 9.0 is a great alternative (but remember, even though you can install it for FREE in a business, you are violating the license agreement that you click on unless you pay for it).

 

Personally, I have 4 computers in my home. I use Norton Internet Security on three of them and AVG on the fourth. I have not been infected with a virus or spyware on any of my computers in the past 3 years.

 

I do get about 10 calls per month to remove viruses and spyware from computers. Just about all the computers that I work on have Limewire installed on them. Virtually all the computers have either no security software installed or security software that is either outdated or not active.

 

I still prefer Norton Internet Security 2010. However, if you absolutely don't want to pay, AVG 9.0 is almost as good.

 

Read New AVG Suite Good for Business reviewed in CRNtech magazine at:

 

http://www.crn.com/security/221601271;jsessionid=L0FFB2WQJKTIFQE1GHRSKH4ATMY32JVN

 

Read a recent review and additional user reviews on the CNET website at:

 

http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

 

Download the FREE AVG on the AVG site at:

 

http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

 

 

 

 

• Does Google Docs in the Clouds Replaces Microsoft Office?

Google Docs is a group of software offered by Google that works in the clouds.

 

Working in the clouds means that you can store your information on an external website instead of your local computer.

 

For example, you can use the Google Docs word processor to write a letter (or any type of term paper, book, or other written document).

 

Instead of storing your document on a local computer, you are storing it on a server owned by Google. You are storing your document on a secure server somewhere in a place other than the computer your are typing on. We say you are storing it in the clouds.

 

To my knowledge, Google has not lost a stored document. It is theoretically 100% safe to store your documents with Google.

 

Google Docs offers users a free Microsoft Word-like word processor, a Microsoft Excel-like spreadsheet, and a PowerPoint-like presentation program.

 

Google Docs has it advantages and disadvantages. Google Docs is FREE. You can access Google Docs from any computer anywhere. You don't need to install any software on the computer that is accessing Google Docs. You can create a spreadsheet using Google Docs in Manhattan and access that same spreadsheet in Los Angles.

 

Google Docs is secure. You need a user name and password to access your documents. You can share your Google Docs with others.

 

Google's word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software is inferior to those applications offered by Microsoft. However, it depends on what you need. Many people don't need the power offered within Microsoft products and can probably do fine only using Google Docs.

 

Some people may fear losing security when using Google Docs. For me, I don't post any documents posted with Google Docs that I would fear being in the hands of others.

 

Microsoft is about to compete with Google Docs and will be offering some "cloud" products.

 

For now, Google is the leader. Google claims that it's FREE Cloud Software will be as good as Microsoft Office within the next two years.

 

Almost no one owned a home computer in the 1960's.

 

The first home computers started to become popular in the 1980's.

 

Microsoft Windows first surfaced in the 1990's.

 

Email and the Internet did not take hold until about the year 2000.

 

2009 is the year when Microsoft published Windows 7 and computers have reached the point where they are almost as reliable as a television sets.

 

2015 is the year when local hard drives will become obsolete. We will all be working in the clouds.

 

2012 is the year when Facebook will be gone (I wish).

 

To read more about Microsoft Office Vs. Google Docs, go to:

 

http://www.crn.com/software/220300327;jsessionid=Y0KUAPALJIANFQE1GHRSKH4ATMY32JVN

 

If you haven't tried it, sign up for a FREE Google Docs account at:

 

http://docs.google.com