Directive Blogs

With Windows 10 on the horizon, you would think that users would flock toward Microsoft’s newest OS, Windows 8.1. However, this simply hasn’t been the case. If anything, Windows 7 has grown more popular while Windows 8 and 8.1’s sales have plateaued.

With the failure of Google Glass, some people are questioning the effectiveness of wearable technology. However, a new form of smart technology might turn things around for it. At the Kaspersky Labs Security Analyst Summit, it was proposed that embedding technology in the human body might be one of the more viable ways to take advantage of smart technology.

You can’t have IT without information, you can’t have information without data, and technology is what creates data so that you can better use your company’s technology to increase sales. Got it? Understanding the flow of data can be confusing. It’s important to have a handle on it so you can leverage your data for the success of your business.

Sometimes the reason for not taking advantage of more complex features in programs is that they take multiple steps to complete. For those deterred from these features or functions, Microsoft Outlook has a Quick Steps feature that takes the pain out of multiple-step processes and reduces it to the click of a button.

Microsoft’s latest Office application, MS Sway, is looking to make some big changes to the way professionals display presentations. Designed as a cross-platform content aggregation tool, Sway is capable of creating and sharing dynamic web-based presentations that are just bold enough to catch the eye. How is Microsoft Sway looking to change the way businesses present information?

Have you ever been so mad at your crummy printer that you referred to it as a piece of excrement? Well, it turns out that printers and toilets have more in common than you may have thought.

One telling sign of how far we’ve come as a society is the selfie. What’s a selfie you ask? Not only is the selfie a real thing, but it’s a legitimate word. According to the Oxford Online Dictionary, a selfie is, “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.” Aiding in the popularity of selfies is the rise of selfie technologies, such as these three examples.

Are your employees trained to answer the phones in a helpful and professional manner? If you're not intentional about this, calls made to your company will be fumbled, notes will be scribbled on paper, and clients will lose confidence in your business. One way to really impress callers is to equip your staff with phone features allowing them to know pertinent information about a client before they answer the phone.

During the broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX, Coca-Cola premiered a bold new commercial meant to inspire viewers, make the world (wide web) a happier place, and of course, sell Coca-Cola. To be sure, it was a monumental marketing effort, but for those of us in IT, we find it cringeworthy and must object to the commercial’s content.

When it comes to business communications technology, you don’t want to be caught using technology that’s outdated. Thanks to the innovations afforded to your company by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), you can have access to lots of game-changing telephone features that blow traditional phone systems out of the water. Has your business switched to the VoIP advantage?

There’s no denying that computers have become a central figure in the rapid growth and success of Western culture. With it brings commentary. In the second half of the 20th century and the first decade-and-a-half of the 21st century, humans have turned to the motion picture to tell the stories they deem important and noteworthy. The growth of technology has not only presented us with our new lifestyle, it has virtually erased the lifestyle of our ancestors, and this revelation leads to fear.

We all know Microsoft PowerPoint as a great presentation tool which can help you drive information home to the audience. Naturally, this makes it a great medium for use in more than one type of professional environment. It can be used for webinars, lectures, and even the courtrooms; but is a legal trial really a place for a slideshow?

We’re all aware of how the proliferation of mobile devices is changing the workplace, but let’s take an objective look at this trend. Are mobile devices changing the workplace for the better? Are employees actually using their personal devices to get more work done? Or, is the BYOD trend a bunch of hype and nothing’s really changed? Let’s find out.

Technology has come a long way since 2003. It seems like just yesterday that Microsoft dropped support for Windows XP, and in just a few short months, they’ll be dropping support for Windows Server 2003, as well. If your business is one of the many still utilizing this server operating system, you’ll want to make sure that you upgrade away from it before July 14th, 2015. Otherwise, you’ll be running without security patches or updates.

A few weeks ago, Microsoft presented several of their latest projects at a live event. As expected, there was a lot of focus put on the new Windows operating system, Windows 10, in addition to their in-development browser Spartan; but what we didn’t expect Microsoft to show off was a slew of brand spanking new consumer technologies.

What’s the best way to transfer your media files from your Windows PC to your Android mobile device? There are many different ways to go about this. One of the most-efficient-yet-often-neglected ways to sync your music is Windows Media Player.

Email has revolutionized the way we communicate, but in some cases it can be a dangerous distraction to productivity. This is especially true if your company is trying to maintain its own Exchange mail server. Does having email on the brain give you a headache? If so, you might consider looking into a hosted email Exchange solution from Directive.

The world’s largest terrestrial vehicle is the German-made bucket-wheel excavator known as “Bagger 293.” Used for open-pit mining, Bagger 293 hulks over the landscape at a length of 722 feet, and a height of 310 feet (twice the size of the Statue of Liberty). As a bonus, this beast-of-a-machine is made more ferocious thanks to remote technology.

Technology is getting more powerful, but have you considered where all of that power comes from? Not many people actually take the time to understand how much energy their PC or workstation is using, but this could potentially be increasing your operating costs higher than they need to. Try taking the time to calculate your PC’s energy usage to get a feel for what your workstation is costing your business and the environment.

In addition to Microsoft’s upcoming new operating system, Windows 10, the software company has released that there is a new web browser in production. This new browser, code-named “Spartan,” is expected to have similar functionality to Mozilla’s Firefox and Google Chrome, and will be released alongside Windows 10.