Kinetics wins Microsoft NZ Small Business Award (again)

Beware!! There is a very realistic email "survey" going around purporting to be from McDonalds. Be careful, its a CON! Lets take a closer look ...

Over the last couple of years, VDI has emerged as a relevant technology for concentrating PCs into a single server. So what s it exactly? A simple introduction to VDI ...

There is never a good time for things to go wrong, and late afternoon on Friday 13th before a busy weekend is amongst the worst

Every year, vendors from all around the globe use Microsoft's Worldwide Conference to showcase their products to a technical audience. Like all expos, some products catch your eye, and many don't.

Phones continue to evolve into pocket computers. We will see the next generation of Windows phone shortly and it looks really cool!

With 12,000 people including 9,500 partners from 130 countries, this year's WorldWide Microsoft Conference holds great promise for us to learn more about what we can do to help our clients

Great news for Kinetics today. We have again been honoured by Microsoft NZ as a finalist in the Small Business Category in 2010. We've been fortunate to be a finalist year after year. It's incredibly rewarding to be able to reflect on the great things that our clients do everyday, and to play our small part in your success.

Bill Lunam explains e-mail spoofing, its legitimate and illegitimate uses.

Symptom – start web browser, after a few seconds, a weird 80’s tune starts playing. No matter what web page you browse to, the music plays on. Sounds like a virus! But, virus software is up-to-date, and one careful user.

At last, Office 2010 launches this week. We’ve been out talking about it, at client meetings, seminars, in our newsletter and in our twitter feeds. So you’ll know we’re excited by it. Here's TEN great reasons

We would like to invite you to be our guest at this year’s Bizzone Business Expo.

We've had a timely reminder about backups before roll-overs

News today that 3.5 diskettes are on the way out. Crikey, it's not that long ago that they were new!

We’ve all been using Office2010 at Kinetics for some time. It’s been in ‘beta’ for some months. In fact, our experience with Office 2010 has been so good that we’ve rolled it out to all our staff. And now we’ve collated their favourite experiences.

Office 2010 launches on May 13th. It's a huge step forward - come and see what the fuss is all about - register now

For April Fool's day, Google decided to do something a little different ...

Statistics released this week show that Facebook has overtaken Google as the most visited site on the 'net in the US - a significant evolution of web usage

Right now, we’ve become aware of a range of IP addresses belonging to Vodafone NZ subscribers being blacklisted by the ‘UCEprotect’ site, located in Germany. Even worse, the particular site may be a scam, allegedly demanding money from Vodafone before they’ll correct their list.

We picked up a useful article in ‘stuff’ this week. It seems that the anti-SPAM laws are now going to be more vigorously enforced. Despite the law change back in 2007, there has still been a small number of persistent rogues.

We’re hearing stories about phone systems being hacked. Stories out of Christchurch talk about massive thousand dollar toll bills occurring over just 2-3 days. As the stories go, the hackers are apparently out of Somalia. It seems they are using the stolen services to sell cheap toll cards to their customer base.

Just days after a security vulnerability in IE6 caused problems for Google in China, we are now advised that IE6 and older are no longer supported

As happens from time to time, new security threats emerge for common software. Hackers are always looking for new ways to vandalise the internet. Recently some attacks have happened in China, apparently targeting Google. It seems the hackers have found a way of using a vulnerability in Internet Explorer.

Microsoft Office is the one program that most of use each day. Whether it's for Word, Excel or something else, Office is key to our daily productivity. So with a major new release due in the middle of this year, Kinetics staff are busy getting familiar with the beta release.

This week, Google announced their latest smartphone, the Nexus One, unfortunately not available here in New Zealand. The pricing is incredible, the equivalent of just NZ $243 with a two year contract, or NZ $718 without a contract. Devices like this are changing the internet, and the shape of PCs.

With the Christmas holiday season upon us, you can go on vacation knowing that Kinetics will be here to look after your IT

Susan Carlow recently delivered Windows 7 coaching seminars to NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants in Remuera. The event was a success, and attendees took away a comprehensive user guide, packed with hints and tips to get the best out of Windows 7.

The latest news reveals that Windows 7 is now on more desktops that the current Mac OS - after just one month.

We think SharePoint is the most exciting Microsoft technology available today. We’ve helped many clients get get their intranets underway, using the technology that in many cases they already own. More and more of our clients use the document management features to share documents, track updates and access them over the internet. They use workflows to manage business processes ranging for staff leave through to accounts payable and job orders, and that’s just scratching the surface.

Some time back, we posted a comment on our 'Handy Hints' page about the most useless key - scroll lock. It's prompted a loyal reader to ask why the '@' key, one of the most useful keys, is still relatively inaccesible.

Kinetics welcomes our clients to a preview event. Learn about Windows 7 and Office 2010 and see what you can expect

One of the “lighter” sessions at TechEd 09 was based around the changes and future of mobile PCs. The session covered the past, present and future of mobile computing – the definition of mobile computing here being anything capable of running a desktop operating system (i.e. not a phone or PDA).

One of the most significant new features in Exchange 2010 is the storage capacity archiving. Mailstore size has often been an issue for our clients, and that's going to be history - find out why ...

Windows 7 is launching very soon, and expectations are high. What will Windows 7 do for you? We sent Corrie Schoonbee to Tech-Ed to find out.

We're regularly asked for advice on building websites. It's not something we're particularly expert in, but this morning, on one of the 'must-read' blogs, we saw some great pointers that we'd like to share

What happens to old computers? It's not like you can compost them! Kinetics helped out at our local eDay collection centre.

Some may think Google pretty much is a monopoly - but that's not what this is about. We've just become aware of the popular game going online

Having the latest software is one thing, but knowing how to get the most from it is vital. Kinetics offers a 'Power Plug' session to help you get some quick wins from Office 2007

Over the last few months, a new force has emerged. It’s called “cloud computing”. Like many innovations, it’s not actually new. So, cloud computing is a proven idea, tested over the ages. So why’s it back in vogue?

Clean up New Zealand’s e-waste. Recycling electronic waste (e-waste) enables the recovery and reuse of valuable materials and ensures toxic materials are not buried in our landfills - so it's better for our environment.

Like many people, we’ve now got more than one PC at home. The kids have one, there’s a shared machine in the office, and my laptop spends a fair amount of time there too. And like a lot of home machines, backups aren’t what they could be. Likewise, we seem to download the digital camera to whichever PC is closest at the time, resulting in a real shambles. I’ve been meaning to sort it out for a while now.

Kinetics Group invites you to improve your productivity with Outlook 2007 - unlocking the power of collaboration

Microsoft NZ's Partner Awards for 2009 are coming up. Kinetics has won the Small Business category for the last couple of years, and we are a finalist again this year.

Bill Lunam explains Server Virtualisation in simple terms.

One of the product highlights from Microsoft's Partner Conference was the unveiling of Exchange 2010. We summarise the key new features ...

Microsoft Office is the most commonly used business software on the planet. So the chance to see what's new in 2010 at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference was high on Kinetics' CEO Andrew Hunt's list.

Lessons for success in a downturn - Microsoft started their Worldwide Partner Conference with their advice to partners. Kinetics CEO Andrew Hunt was there, and thinking about what it means on a day to day basis ...

Times are tough. We know that everyone needs to trim their costs - frankly businesses are always trimming costs in good times or bad - but some apparent savings can be very expensive.

There's another email doing the rounds, purporting to come from Microsoft with an attached 'fix'. Do NOT believe it!

Google Maps gets better and better. User pictures are now appearing in Street View

One of the cool applications on iPhones are RSS viewers. Weirdly, RSS viewers aren't included in Windows Mobile. So we went looking for a free one

Bombarded day and night on the news, its becoming obvious that swine flu is going to have an impact. What is Kinetics doing to maintain service?

Microsoft has released one download that applies Service Pack 2 to both Windows Vista and Server 2008. The download is available in both 32 and 64 bit versions. The Service pack includes all previously released updates, patches and enhancements. It also includes new features to add value to your Vista or 2008.

October 22nd sees the general release of Windows 7. With widespread anticipation and positive reviews, this is great news!

Using SharePoint - Kinetics's SharePoint Templates include SalesNet for Small Business

Google is verb. It has become part of our language. Even the most computer illiterate know that ‘googling’ means searching the internet. I understand that Google commands over 60% of all internet searches, which is truly incredible. And now we have Bing. Kinetics CEO Andrew Hunt takes a look.

Last week, Kinetics CEO Andrew Hunt took a trip to Sydney to look around Cebit and see what's new

How far away is it from hitting a computer near you, and why does it matter to your business? Kinetics takes a closer look at Windows 7 RC1

Savio is a well-respected CRM and Events Sofware Specialist, has outsourced it's network support to Kinetics

Following last month's article, this month Susan Carlow reviews the most popular social media sites

28 April sees the release of SP2 for Office 2007. What's going to be in the pack?

While browsing the internet, we came across this gem from the 1980's. Would you trade your PDA for it?

Kinetics Coach Susan Carlow explores the online world of social media. Is it relevant to business?

Everyone gets frustrated at their computer from time to time. "How do I", "Why did that happen" ... so what can you do about it?

Evolving forward to meet the challenges of 2009 means some changes in faces at Kinetics

April Fools Day approaches, and so does the expected unleashing of the Conficker virus (Downad)

We've just become aware of a security vulnerability with Adobe Acrobat. But there is a simple answer ..

Marshall your defences. Learn how to protect your email and web traffic with the latest tools from Marshall Software

With the controversy still surrounding ‘section 92’ of the Copyright Act, we explore computer and internet usage policies ...

Deciphering the cryptic phone accounts is a challenge for most of us. So Kinetics asked our friends at Teleconsultants for help, and were surprised with the results ...

As previously covered, Windows 7 is now in 'beta'. So we thought we'd fire it up and take a look. Kinetics Group CEO Andrew Hunt went as far as using it on his everyday work machine.

Website of the month : Kinetics CEO Andrew Hunt finds the answers to his questions at www.statistics.govt.nz

From tomorrow, February 3rd, your computer will start checking to see if it is "genuine"

It's been a while since there has been a major virus outbreak, but, with 9 million machines so far infected, be warned of a new and nasty worm virus coming our way

Kinetics Group’s Bill Lunam loses valuable time as a result of a split second decision.

Kinetics Group has spotted two new tricks used to get access to your system. Legitimate looking Pop ups that look to be coming up from your task bar.

TelecomXtra are turning off some old DNS servers. This may effect Xtra clients with longstanding connections ...

Telstra are now moving their business customers from Paradise to Telstra connections. This transition will take place over the next 18 months.

Just like your car, a network tune up and service at least once a year makes sense

2 December - Significant disruption in Albany for users dependent on Vector

Microsoft have gone into “pre beta” on Windows 7, the replacement for Vista.

A plea for help when you need help ... the best way to get an engineer urgently isn't to ring them

More than ever businesses need to control costs, and make sure every 'spend' is a quality 'spend'. With our friends at Teleconsultants, let us help you get those complex phone bills tamed.

Stop Press! Kinetics launches a new service to help customers get more from less. In these tightening times, you need even more value from your current systems. We've found the way ...

Breaking News ... a major security alert for your computers in in force. The good news is that it's easily fixed ...

Congratulations to our winner ...

Kinetics Group recommends disabling auto preview and the reading pane to limit malicious application infection.

Kinetics Group likes to keep ahead of the game by keeping an eye on technology changes. If you have a techy mind set read on as Bill Lunam reports on the HP G6 Server changes.

Backups are more important than ever. But tape features less and less ...

At last, SBS2008, the latest version of Microsoft Small Business Server is on its way. Kinetics Group CEO Andrew Hunt explains why we are so excited.

Getting the benefits of Exchange, without needing a server - shared address books, calendars, tasks and email ...

Personalising Maps - the modern equivalent of putting drawing pins on a wall map ...

Love them or loathe them, it is good to see Microsoft listening and making changes for the market.

One of the complaints of Windows mobile devices in the past has been how fat and clunky (there’s no polite way to say it!) the devices themselves are, especially when compared to the likes of Blackberry’s or Nokia phones. One of the things I was impressed with at Microsoft TechEd 08 was the new mobile devices running Windows Mobile 6.1 that are, in the most part, sleek and sexy.

Are you safe using your computer?

An old trick has reappeared. Kinetics Group has warned about this in the past and its back.

Last night, Microsoft held their 2008 partner awards celebrating excellence. How did Kinetics fare?

Bookmark these sites on your PDA. Internet browsing on your smart phone is getting easier ...

Kinetics Group sent Bill Lunam a long to look at the next generation in smart phones and he came away impressed.

Andrew Hunt explains how to find user details on a Smart Phone.