If you have ever owned a car you then have a clear understanding of the importance of properly maintaining the vehicle. Through regular oil changes, tire rotations, engine tune ups, etc your vehicle can maintain proper efficiency throughout its lifespan. Without the attention of such maintenance this can lead to the accelerated pace of the vehicle aging and subsequently make the repairs much more costly when needed.

The same is the case with your computers, be it laptop or desktop they both need the same type of care to sometimes prevent the huge repair bill down the line. We understand how to maintenance a car but, how do you maintenance a computer, you ask? One part of computer maintenance is to make sure all the physical hardware components are working properly without interference. For example making sure dust isn’t clogging up the processor fan, and if so using a can of compressed air to remove the clog would do the trick. Without this small thing the fan can stop working and cause the machine to overheat frying the motherboard and then the machine doesn’t work at all. Another part of maintenance is comprised of cleaning out of Windows all the temporary files no longer needed. For the most part everything you do on your computer generates a temporary file that stores itself on the computer. As the numbers of temp files continue to grow they begin to slow down your machine prohibiting you from enjoying the once upon a time fast machine. By properly cleaning out these temp files from a number of different locations you can regain some of the speed back that you have come accustomed to having.

These two maintenance items are just a brief look at what can be done to keep your machine running in good health and give you a proactive approach to the wear and tear on your machines. Each situation is different and a trained professional can assist you properly maintaining your machine. For heavy users maintenance should be done once a month; for semi heavy users, once a quarter would suffice. Whatever you situation is Calcom Technologies offers a variety of Maintenance packages affordable for the business and home user. Give us a call and let us advise you on the best option for your machines and wallet.

When we think of business, we think of it as a way of making money. There are so many ways to make money in so many different industries. In today’s business world anyone with an idea can turn that idea in to a fantastic booming business reaching consumers all across the word. Dedication, hard work, and focus are the key ingredients to having such success. As a thriving business beacon the business can be full of inspiration for all to marvel at the fantastic organization structure and business plan put perfectly in to motion.  In the old days this was done by way of phone calls, letters, telegrams, and simple handshakes. With the booming emergence of the internet businesses have found a new medium bringing about a whole new way of doing business.

Right now in 2010 we can categorize business into two major platforms online and offline business. Offline businesses are companies that primarily sell, promote, and market their products and services through other means other than the use of the internet.  Online businesses promote, distribute, sell, and market their products and services primarily by way of the internet.  By design each type of business targets certain consumers based upon demand and need as both can provide very stable grounds for business longevity.  An example of offline businesses is your neighborhood insurance agent, your local grocery store, McDonalds.  These types of business deal with customer interaction and the selling of their products and services through their local offices. These businesses can continue to function without the internet and don’t have a true need for online sales. Examples of online businesses include companies like Pro Flowers, Facebook, and eBay. These businesses deal only through the internet where you can purchase their products from their respective websites.

While each of these types of business can definitely function independently of each other, the combination of the two poses a fantastic upside. With this the business has the ability to sell their products and services to consumers all over the world by allowing them to be purchased through a store or online through the internet. Being able to gather consumers on both ends of the spectrum from offline to online purchases gives the business a deeper hand into the global marketplace and consumer. Companies like Dell, HP, and Google have mastered this style of business and it has transformed them into global companies with consumers around the world 24/7/365. If you have an idea for a business, don’t be afraid to take it to the max and see how far it goes. We’ve just highlighted these two types of businesses but these are not the limits of what a business can do. Dedicate yourself to the building of a brand and watch it grow into a blossoming business.

For many of us we use email like our lives depends on it. The notion of always being connected through our pda’s, blackberries, laptops, desktops, iPod touch, and now the iPad gives us our email at almost an instant.  Many of us use different email clients as a data store for all of our email, be it Microsoft Outlook for Windows and/or Mail for Mac OS just to mention a few.  These programs have been around for a while and because of our familiarity with these programs we use them religiously. With these we take the good and the bad, just dealing with all of the pros and cons to the selected client. Although there are other email clients available to use we are just as stubborn as a bull when it comes to switching. One email client that has in particular gained ground is Claws Mail.

Claws mail is the newest version of Sylpheed-Claws in which the earlier versions was known for its stable and fast platform. By becoming its own standing client, Claws mail has “clawed” its way to the top of the non – familiar mail clients. With support for all of the major operating systems; Claws Mail boasts the following features:  Multiple accounts, Threaded display, Filtering, Mime attachments, SSL support, User-defined headers, MH and Mbox folder support/import/export, and Plugin capabilities.

The fact that this email client is based on Linux gives it is backing for a truly customizable experience. By downloading additional pluggins and templates to add to the client it truly makes the environment more suitable to you. Many of these customizable features gives you more control on how you see, view, compose, and respond to email. Just as this is an advantage to some, it also is a disadvantage to others. If you aren’t familiar with Linux and the way it works then you may not feel as comfortable using this software. Some may not like the look and feel of the client. For example some may not like the folder structure in the left viewing pane.  Since there are so many options regarding the client that you can change, there are few users who find Claw’s Mail to advance.  Others find that all of the added features and fast loading platform have made them never want to look back to other email clients. Some say they just don’t want to change even if its better, they can deal with what they have.

For us here at Calcom Technologies we like the client a lot and will recommend as well as support it, but you can call us old reliable as we stay primarily Outlook users.

First off what is branding? According to the free encyclopedia the Wikipedia; brand or branding is a name, sign, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service or business. Simply put this is the visual depictions that resonate to us in our minds a specific company by which we may want to use their service or product.

To the consumer a company’s brand along with their branding techniques makes the difference in whether or not they choose to do business with that company. Each brand to the consumer has a different meaning to them some good and some bad. For instance if you are in the market for a computer or laptop, chances are you will at the very least see what DELL has to offer based upon how their brand translates in your mind. You may choose DELL because you remember the commercial with the lollipop song and all the colorful laptops. You also recognize the Dell logo with the off center “E” in DELL. With this simple awareness of some part of the branding that DELL has successfully marketed, you think that they are worth your money because they are a recognized brand. Their brand has given you a sense of trust that makes you feel comfortable enough to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars without the notion of being ripped off. This prime example of a company’s relationship with the consumer/client (whichever word you choose) based upon brand awareness is the sole reason many company’s focus very intensely on building their brand.

 Although in theory building a brand sounds easy to the contrary it is very difficult. To properly build a brand it takes a vision, (of course a company) and a product or service to offer to interested consumers/clients. The brand second to the mission statement is the essential backbone of the company in our opinion. With the right brand your company can sell itself with potential consumers/clients just by brand awareness. Such awareness can be formally written according to Wikipedia; as to customers’ ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions and link to the brand name, logo, jingles and so on to certain associations in memory. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs to and what products and services are sold under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products.

To build a brand properly it starts with a company name. Choose a name that is catchy and obviously not in use already. Develop with the help of a graphic designer or design company (Calcom Technologies provides this service) a logo that correctly portrays the look, feel, tone, and appeal of the company as well as the product, and or service. Turn that logo into your brand with the proper marketing. Place the logo on all company related documents (letterhead, invoices, website, business cards, brochures, labels, etc.) Qualify the brand by offering a solid product/service and in due time the brand will speak for itself.

If done correctly and with integrity your brand and company will be one whereby the company is known for the brand and the brand is the company.

You’re thinking what are you trying to say, back up flies? No, we are introducing to some a new software company that has emerged onto the technology scene and have been receiving rave reviews for its product. Backupify is the name of the software product they produce that provides a way to back up all your cloud data.  Cloud data is derived from the definition of cloud computing which is;  Internet -based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are used by computers and other devices on-demand, like a traditional utility.

What this means is that this software gives you the ability to backup all your data from your social media sites as well as internet based accounts. These include but aren’t limited to Twitter, Flickr, Delicious, Zoho, Google Docs, Photobucket, Wordpress, Basecamp, Gmail, Facebook, and Blogger.

The software boats an easy setup, low process utilization and set and forget installation. Most of all it provides 2 GB of storage free with amounts higher at a very low affordable cost.  It’s just that simple; all you have to do during the setup is provide them with you usernames and passwords for each application/social media site you would like to backup.

The fact that it doesn’t heavily interfere with process utilization is a definite plus. Also, the 2gb free storage will add to the number of users willing to try it out and as their data grows won’t have a problem kicking out a few bucks to back it up. The only problem we foresee at Calcom Technologies is if the price jumps then it may not be worth it to some. The mere fact that it is possible to back up all your internet information just gives us a clue that social media is here to stay. All the while continue to grow as more apps come into the significantly increasing market. Will this backup solution Backupify be something you use?  Leave us a comment with your thoughts.