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**It Gets Later Earlier this Year!**

In August of 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which changes the dates of both the start and end of daylight saving time (DST). DST starts three weeks earlier this year – on the second Sunday in March instead of the first Sunday in April. Why would we want to alert you about this in a newsletter that focuses on technology? It’s because your computer or computer network may not know what time it REALLY is on the second Sunday in March. The problem could compound itself when the second Sunday in April rolls around because your computer systems will want to change the time automatically to account for what it thinks is the beginning of DST. Microsoft has announced that it has released updated time zone definitions for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003. VISTA will have the correct definitions when it ships. Windows NT computers or Windows 2000 computers will not receive any kind of hot fix or update because they have passed the end of mainstream support, nor will Windows XP SP1.

How will these changes affect you? Any calendaring/scheduling applications such as Microsoft Outlook will be affected as well as any program that uses Date/Time calculations or transaction logging. You can read more about it by going to the URL listed below. If you have questions, or need assistance to be certain that your systems are running correctly, please contact your HTS office to set up a time with one of our technicians.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx

Hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural events are disasters in every sense of the word. Lives are lost, property decimated and entire communities disrupted.

For your small business, these events can be just as devastating. But there's a great deal you can do — both to prepare before a disaster strikes and afterwards, to get your business back on its feet quickly.

Here are 10 tips to better protect your business and, if damage occurs, what you can do to speed your recovery.

Read more...

Blame it on instant messaging. Here's the scene: A couple dozen professionals at a New York advertising agency quietly type away at computer screens congregated near each other, in an open room devoid of office walls and tall partitions.

Quietly is the key word here. An occasional laugh or chuckle punctuates the silence. But no one is talking. Why? They are communicating with one another almost exclusively through instant messaging (IM).

"When I'm visiting this firm, I can't help but notice this [lack of people talking]. Seems odd to an outsider, but this is now pretty much their corporate culture," says Helen Chan, analyst for The Yankee Group, a Boston-based technology research group, who has friends at the ad agency.

Read more...