This article from Entrepreneur.com relates to startups, but it really is applicable for any of us in business.

DISCLAIMER (needed!): Of course, the reason I really like this is that near the bottom, author Brad Sugars says to not skimp when buying IT equipment:

Now that we looked at some things you should never pay full price for, is there anything you should ever buy new?

Actually, yes, and that would be your computer and network equipment. It’s rare to find a great “gently used” system to meet your needs, and prices are more than comparable for remarkably fast and versatile new systems with everything you need.

You needn’t worry about the integrity of the hardware or any of the software, and you can customize a new system or network specifically for the demands and capacity of your business.

But there is some pretty good advice in this article about what you can save on in these tight economic times.

Find the Entrepreneur.com article here.

EDIT: NY Times Tech page has an update on this issue here

Actually, as of this writing, Wednesday morning, December 23, 8:00AM, it looks like things might be fixed. But if you are seeing some issues with getting mail on your BlackBerry, there are some BB issues right now. This should only affect BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), meaning if yo have a BB server at your site, running either BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) or BlackBerry Professional Software (BPS), you should be getting your email just fine and likely saw no issues at all.

Internet browsing on your BlackBerry was definitely affected, though. I saw that yesterday on my trusty BB.

PC World has the story here.

32-bit or 64-bit? Lifehacker.com has a great article on how it all breaks down.

(My default answer: 64-bit! More juice, baby!)

The Lifehacker posts says the following, among other well explained details, in reference to whether you can use your 32-bit apps with your new 64-bit operating system:

Do 32-bit Applications Work on 64-Bit?

The vast majority of your 32-bit applications will continue to work just fine on 64-bit Windows, which includes a compatibility layer called WoW64, which actually switches the processor back and forth between 32-bit and 64-bit modes depending on which thread needs to execute—making 32-bit software run smoothly even in the 64-bit environment.

There are some exceptions to that rule, however: 32-bit device drivers and low-level system applications like Antivirus, shell extensions that plug into Windows, and some media applications simply won’t work without a 64-bit equivalent.

In practice, the vast majority of your favorite applications will either continue to work, or provide a 64-bit version you can use instead—but you should check to make sure.

Very well explained, as is the rest of the post.

In short: with a new computer, there are lots of reasons to go with the 64-bit version of your operating system (especially Windows 7). That being said, there can be compatibility issues with specific applications you regularly use, and you need to check that out first.

Find the article here.

…the more they stay the same.

Ars Technica has a link to an article in a science journal that details how folks had stressful lives in the wayyy back – like 1500 years ago.

The team found that the time just before the individuals passed away was a stressful one—not an overly surprising result. But the majority of the individuals had lived through stressful periods in the years leading up to their death, suggesting that stress was a regular part of life in the pre-modern period. Perhaps this can be filed under “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

So this whole stress thing isn’t some new-fangled 20th – 21st century phenomenon. It’s old news, baby. May just as well enjoy it!

Find the Ars Technica article here

TechSpot, a favorite tech-info clearinghouse of mine, has a nice post on Ninite.

Ninite will auto-magically load up a variety of freeware software applications so you don’t have to mess with it. This is especially handy if you install a new operating system – say, Windows 7.

(I am a big fan of Windows 7 – terrific operating system. See my many posts on this blog for details, and there will be much more to come.)

Ninite is actually a service; go to their site at http://ninite.com/, choose what you want to load, and let it get started. You don’t get all the customization you may prefer, but no matter how you cut it, Ninite saves time. Lots of time.

Ninite

I recently made use of Ninite on a fresh Windows 7 install and found it to be very helpful.

We’ll call Ninite “Recommended”.

Microsoft Office Publisher makes it easy to produce effective business cards, whether you create your own design or use one of the Publisher designs. You can use color schemes and font schemes to select the colors and fonts that reflect your company’s image. You can further customize your business cards for specific market segments or locales, and you can add names and job titles for new employees as your business grows.
Learn how…

Microsoft Office Access 2007 makes it easy to gather data from people who are located anywhere on the globe, such as members of your sales team, survey participants, or contacts. Office Access 2007 works with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to help you to generate and send an e-mail message that includes a data entry form.

Learn how…