What’s

Inside

Explaining the cloud is tough. Using it is easy. If you don't have an iPod, you cer-tainly know someone who does. So you know that when you buy a song from the iTunes store, you put it on your computer (PC or MAC) and can add it on one other device, usually your iPod. If you introduce another device to the mix, Apple says no-no, only two devices. All of that changed last month. Now when you buy a song, you can put it on iCloud, Ap-ple's music storage server in the "cloud." The best part is you can access it from any device now, be-cause when you log in you are identified as the owner of the song. That's the cloud. Wait, you say, I don't have a MAC or iPod. Okay, fair enough. That box that sits on the floor under your desk or in the server room can be moved to the cloud. Your operating system, files and software have "left the building" and you connect to them through the Internet. Now someone else can worry about patches and vi-rus protection and updating software. That's the cloud. The best part is that you can choose the device you want to use to access the cloud. Want to connect via Black-berry? Go ahead! iPad? Go for it! iPhone? Yep! Slate tablet? Sure, have at it!

It's not about the hardware and maintenance anymore; it's about the value of up-time and reliability. And guess what, you are already using the cloud and probably don't even think about it. Do you use Facebook? That's in the cloud. Do you watch videos on You Tube? Do you have a GMail account or a Yahoo Home page? That's the cloud. What about those pictures you send

to CVS Photo and pick up two hours later at the CVS Store of your choice? Oh, and what about Netflix, movies on demand? That's the cloud. The cloud is a pretty sim-ple concept. You can get

to your files and applications from anywhere on the planet on almost any device. It really doesn't matter if it's a laptop, iPad or a Blackberry. The device is just your preferred tool to retrieve your information. For the first time, the consumer will likely arrive at the cloud fully equipped before business gets on board; but once getting on board, it's going to move fast. On the cloud you are freed of wor-rying, "do I need to upgrade my server" or "does my PC talk to my MAC." Just connect to the Internet and work from anywhere.

(Continued next page)

Ain’t it true! By the time we realize our parents may have been right, we usually have children who think we are wrong!

August 2011 Making Good Relations Great

Saving Files

Directly to the

Cloud Page 3

The

Lighter Side

Page 2

Confused

About Cloud

Computing?

Page 1

August

RAFFLE!

Page 4

WATCH OUT!

Phishing is

On the Rise!

Page 3

What's This Cloud Computing

Stuff All About?

Page 2 ConnectionPoint

The cloud offers some obvious advantages: - You can save money on support, equipment and software since they are taken care

of by the cloud provider. - It's like electricity; it's metered. You just pay for what you use. - Instant backups do away with worry about data loss. - No more dreading "patch Tuesday" and "will my PC work on Wednesday". - A failed server won't put you out of business.

Now not every situation is perfect for the cloud: - You may have very specific line-of-business software that can't be hosted in the cloud. - Or you may need a commercial grade broadband connection, which makes it more

costly to have information in the cloud. We are spending time right now working on how this fundamental change will help our cli-ents. We will talk more about the cloud in the next few months. Please email your ques-tions and thoughts to me at david.steger@manage-point.com.

The Lighter Side

Believe it or not, these ads actually

found their way into newspapers all

over the world:

Braille dictionary for sale. Must see to ap-

preciate.

FOR SALE BY OWNER: Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica. 45 volumes.

Excellent condition. $1,000.00 or best offer. No longer needed. Got married last

weekend. Wife knows everything.

For sale, Hope Chest, brand new, half off, long story.

Three-year-old teacher needed for pre-school. Experience preferred.

Tired of working for only $9.75 per hour? We offer profit sharing and flexible

hours. Starting pay: $7 -- $9 per hour.

Nordic Track $300 hardly used, call Chubby.

Free puppies: ½ cocker spaniel, ½ sneaky neighbor’s dog.

Snow Blower for sale…only used on snowy days.

Bill’s Septic Cleaning: “We Haul American-Made Products."

Nice Parachute – Never opened. Used once.

Page 3 ConnectionPoint

Watch Out! Phishing E-mails

On the Rise!

A phishing e-mail is an e-mail sent by a hacker designed

to fool the recipient into downloading a virus, giving up their

credit card number, personal information (like a social security

number), or account or login information to a particular web-

site. Often these e-mails are well de-

signed to look ex- actly like an official noti-

fication from the site they are try-

ing to emu- late.

For ex- ample, a recent

phishing e- mail was circulated

that appeared to come from Face-

book stating that videos or pho-

tos of Osama Bin Laden's death

were posted online. These e-

mails looked exactly like a legiti-

mate Facebook e-mail and even appeared to come from

"Facebookmail.com." Once you clicked on the e-mail the phish-

ing site would attempt to install a virus on your machine.

Now, due to recent security breaches with Sony and e-

mail marketer Epsilion, phishing attacks are going to increase -

and they are going to get more sophisticated and harder to

distinguish from legitimate e-mails.

That's because the hackers that were able to access the

private databases of the above mentioned companies now

have the name, e-mail and interests of the subscribers, and in

some cases birthdays, addresses and more. That means a

phishing e-mail can be personalized with relevant information

that the user provided to Sony, making the e-mail appear to be

more legitimate and the user more likely to click on the links

provided and take the actions requested.

Now more than ever it's critical that you are wary of e-

mail notifications and the actions they request you take. Even

having good anti-virus software installed won't protect you if

you give your account information away freely.

Save Files Directly

Do you ever wish you

could save files you find

online directly to a cloud

storage service provider?

With this handy new free

tool called Cloud Save

you can. Cloud Save is

available for the Google

Chrome browser at the

Google Chrome web-

store.

After you install the ex-

tension in Google

Chrome, you will find a

new menu item when you

right-click or try to

download files in your

browser. The menu item

allows you to send the

file (without having to

download to your hard-

disk) directly to popular

web-based services in-

cluding Dropbox, Google

Docs, Facebook, Flickr,

Picasa, and more. Simply

right-click a file, then de-

cide where you’d like to

send it.

to the Cloud

Page 4

Is there an article you would like to comment on? Is there a topic you want me to research? Have a funny story or a resource you want to

share with the other subscribers? Send it to me! We are always looking for new and useful content to add to The ConnectionPoint.

(414) 456-9837 ext 103 mich.kealey@manage-point.com

Services We Offer:

Answers to July’s raffle questions: (1) Tour de France (2) 31 days (3) Ruby (4) US National Chocolate Month

August Trivia

1. Which special day does not happen in August?

a. Work Like a Dog Day

b. Frankenstein Day

c. Cow Appreciation Day

2. On Aug. 21, 1959, Hawaii became which state?

a. 48th b. 50th c. 38th

3. Which is the birthstone for August?

a. Sapphire b. Garnet c. Peridot

4. What happened on August 6th, 1945?

a. India became an independent country

b. Marilyn Monroe made her Playboy debut

c. Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima

“EXTREME Customer Satisfaction is Our

PASSION!”

10437 Innovation Drive Suite 212

Wauwatosa, WI 53226

Phone: (414) 456-9837 Fax: (414) 431-1055

“EXTREME Customer

Satisfaction is Our PASSION!”

I’d Love To

Hear From YOU!

Monthly Raffle

This month’s raffle winner gets a $35 gift certificate to La Merenda. To enter, submit your answers with your

company contact information to mich.kealey@manage-point.com. The deadline for the raffle is August 30th.

July’s winner was Glenda Gulan of Independent Inspections Ltd. Congratulations, Glenda!

“In lieu of a raise or promotion, I will agree to friend you on Facebook.”