Is Best Buy Next?

Rumor has it that Best Buy is having problems, and they are offering 4000 employees a buyout. The plan is voluntary. Benefits of this buyout include ony year of health care benefits, and 7 1/2 months of severance pay. Employees have to signup by Jan. 5th, 2009. 

While I feel sorry for the employees, I don't feel sorry for the corporate giant. This is just another example of why small business rules in this country. People want excellent customer service, and nobody can deliver that like a small business can. Just because something costs less doesn't mean it's superior. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

Geek Free Radio

I am proud to announce that I will be hosting a daily Monday through Friday computer radio show starting sometime in late January. We have tentatively named the show the "Geek Free Radio Show". 

The show will air on KSET (stands for Southeast Texas) 1300AM. This new station is an ALL local talk format, which is sorely lacking in this area. I intend to focus the show on small and medium business technologies and how they affect those businesses. We will also cover home users, and other computer related news. Interviews with various technology vendors, software reviews, and a lot more to come. The station will also stream via the Internet. I hope you will join us. 

I welcome your comments on the show name, suggestions for topics, etc. I will post more details in the coming days. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

Quickbooks Pro 2009 For Free!

Okay Folks, 

This is the real deal and only available Monday December 22, 2008. Either go to your local Staples store, or better, go to www.staples.com and purchase Intuit Quickbooks Pro 2009 single user for $199. At checkout, you get a $40 instant rebate, which makes it $159. Then fill out the rebate form for $159. When you get your rebate check, that makes it free (not including sales tax, of course). 

This is the best deal I have seen all year. My sources confirm the validity of the offer, and it is only available today. Local stores may run out, and there are no rain checks. So your best bet is to purchase online. The link should be on the Staples home page on this day only. 

I'm taking advantage of the offer. You'll never get Quickbooks Pro any cheaper. The word is that Intuit is trying to help small businesses grow their businesses in the new year. Whatever the reason, don't miss out. And if you are reading this post after the fact, which means you missed this opportunity, then shame on you! You are subscribed to this blog, aren't you? So you get it right away, right? No? Well, then sign up so you don't miss the next good deal! 

To Your Success, 

 Tim

Microsoft Releases Out Of Band Patch

Today, Microsoft released a patch out of band (OOB) or separate from its normal patch schedule. This is the second time Microsoft has released a patch in this fashion in as many months. This patch resolves a publicly known vulnerability called the "Zero Day Exploit" that affects Internet Explorer in various versions. 

If you haven't applied this patch to your systems yet, I highly recommend you do so immediately. You can find the information regarding the issue and the patch at Security Bulletin MS08-078. 

It should be noted that there seems to be mixed feelings among IT professionals on whether this patch should have been released out of band, or bundled during the normal "patch Tuesday" for Microsoft products. I, for one, am glad to see Microsoft step up and offer this patch out of band. You can never be too careful, IMHO. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim