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In case it?s not clear, bottlenecking is a term that?s named after the way a bottle is shaped; narrow at the top, wider at the bottom. The bottleneck is supposed to control how much liquid is poured from the bottle. Techquickie defines bottlenecking (also known as a choke point) as, ?Holding back the performance that could otherwise be achieved.? Unfortunately, locating the source of the bottleneck on your company?s network is often easier said than done. You must locate the source of the issue and resolve it as quickly as possible if you hope to achieve optimal performance in the workplace. Most of the time, resolving the issue is as simple as upgrading whatever is causing the bottleneck so that it?s at the same performance level as the rest of your network. One example of this is upgrading a single aspect of your PC and expecting an overall increase in performance. For example, you may upgrade your video card in hopes of making your PC run better. This fix might make your display look prettier, but it won?t do much to fix problems with your CPU or RAM. If these are old and have already hit their limit, upgrading your video card won?t do anything at all to increase the performance of your PC because they are the bottleneck. The chances of a bottleneck occurring in your network increase as the complexity of technology increases. Therefore, if you?re dealing with a computing infrastructure that?s filled with complex workstations, server units, and other mission-critical hardware, you?re going to witness a substantially larger number of network issues. For instance, if you?re working with top-notch workstations, but your router isn?t up to snuff, this bottleneck will prevent you from maximizing your computing potential. Finding the exact cause of a network bottleneck requires a comprehensive analysis of your network infrastructure, which is why you should call in professional IT technicians if you suspect a potential bottleneck. White Mountain IT Services, with our years of expertise in the technology industry, can troubleshoot and identify issues with your IT infrastructure. Without our ability to quickly diagnose performance issues, it can be easy to place the blame on a piece of hardware that might be as good as new. Knowing with certainty where your network issues lie is one of the most beneficial aspects of working with White Mountain IT Services. This helps you get the job done right the first time. White Mountain IT Services can run diagnostic tools that will determine the exact cause of your network bottleneck. This helps us resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Even better, there?s a good chance that we can resolve the issue remotely without an on-site visit. This makes our services even more convenient. If you think you?ve got a network bottlenecking issue, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800. We?ll work through the issue with you to make sure it?s fixed right with minimal wasted time.
Click a Link with the Scroll Wheel Button to Open it In a New Tab First off, did you even know that you can press down on the scroll wheel and use it as a third mouse button? You sure can. Give it a try! If this is news to you, then a whole new world of clicking lies before you. Instead of right clicking a hyperlink and then selecting ?Open link in new tab,? save yourself a click and simply click the link once with your mouse?s scroll wheel button. This will automatically cause the link to open in a new tab. Close the Browser Tab by Clicking it With the Mouse Scroll Wheel ButtonIn addition to using your mouse scroll wheel to open new browser tabs, you can use it to close tabs. To do this, simply hover the cursor over the page?s tab and then select it with the mouse scroll wheel. This may seem like a rather silly tip when you can do the exact same thing by clicking on the X, but using the scroll wheel gives you a little more real estate to work with, and it?s a convenient way to go about it once you?ve gotten into the habit of using the scroll wheel button. Ctrl+Scroll Up to Zoom In/Ctrl+Scroll Down to Zoom OutThis handy scroll-wheel tip works for your Internet browser and other applications too (but not all of them). Instead of having to go to the view tab and select Zoom in or Zoom out, it?s much easier and faster to hold down the Ctrl Key while scrolling up or down with the mouse scroll wheel. When using the mouse scroll wheel for this purpose, you will notice that the more you scroll means the more that gets zoomed in or out. Be warned, if your mouse has a hair trigger, you will quickly find yourself zooming in or out by a few hundred percent. Bonus Tip: When using the scroll wheel to zoom in with your web browser, you can zoom into the point where you no longer see those annoying ads on the side of a web page. You?re welcome. Now that you know more about what you can do with your mouse?s scroll wheel, you may want to think twice about trading it in for a touchscreen. Despite mobile technology overtaking the tech world, we feel that there?s still room for the reliable computer mouse. Do you prefer the mouse to touchscreens and touch pads? Do you know of any other cool tips that you can do with the mouse scroll wheel? Let us know in the comments.
Let?s examine the current state of paid time off in the workplace. Most businesses use a PTO model that allocates them a certain amount of hours over time, either annually or on a monthly basis. These employees generally need to put in requests for time off at least two weeks prior to the time-off date. This provides the team with a limited amount of time to recuperate, which ultimately limits how much work can be accomplished at maximum capacity. According to Zach Ferres, the CEO of Coplex, unlimited paid time off can be exceptionally useful, and offers a unique return on investment that can help your team truly achieve greatness: Employers who offer unlimited PTO report increased employee satisfaction, improved work-life balance and greater productivity. Plus, unlimited PTO can be a huge selling point when you?re recruiting, and it will actually save your HR department an average of 52 hours per year. One popular company that has implemented this policy with great success is the video streaming service Netflix. Last year, Virgin founder Richard Branson followed suit, as reported by Business Insider: Virgin founder Richard Branson recently declared that the company’s employees can take as many vacation days as they want, provided that “their absence will not in any way damage the business ? or, for that matter, their careers!” Branson said that he got the idea from Netflix. Unlimited PTO can help your team feel like human beings, and can drastically improve operations if integrated properly. After all, when you feel good, you work good, too. Additionally, when employees are responsible for their own paid time off, it can instigate an increased rate of team playing and increased synergy. According to Ferres, here?s how it?s done. Trust Your EmployeesIntegrating any kind of unlimited PTO policy requires a certain level of trust, so it?s important that you can trust your employees not to abuse the privilege and get work done. If they start to abuse the privilege, it might be time to let go of the project before it even begins. On the opposite side of the spectrum, however, the unlimited PTO policy shows your employees that you trust them. Put a Mandatory Minimum PTO Policy into PlaceSome employees tend to not take vacation, breaks, or other PTO, even when there?s no repercussions for doing so. These employees tend to get burned out more than others, and vacation benefits them more than it does for some. Integrate a minimum number of hours that an employee must take off annually to keep the stress as low as possible. Use a Solid Process for Time-Off RequestsYou can?t have people randomly coming into the office and leaving without any semblance of order. Therefore, you should keep a policy in place that helps you determine how to process time-off requests. Ideally, you want to be notified several weeks ahead of time, and establish a way in which tasks ordinarily assigned to the team member get divvied up to others (if they’re urgent). Keep Track of Who Takes Time OffNaturally, a business owner wants to keep track of PTO records. This helps them ensure that nobody is abusing the right, and that those who are taking advantage of the system are doing so properly. This also helps you keep track of the employees who haven?t […]
According to John Brandon of Inc, it?s not likely. He predicts that email will be replaced in the future by other communication mediums, arguing that there are plenty more ways to message others both professionally and informally. He explains this phenomenon by examining his own experiences with email in recent years: In my own workday, email has become less and less important. There are entire groups of people (public relations, for one) who contact me primarily on social networks first. Friends never send email anymore. They almost always send a text or chat on Facebook. Even a few of my colleagues tend to use apps like Campfire more than email. Furthermore, he explains that email isn?t a reliable method of communication, even under the best of circumstances. Many people either ignore their email completely, or they take their sweet time responding. When people do receive messages, they can get lost underneath a mountain of spam. Many people (especially the younger generations) don?t even have a personal email account outside of work or school, simply because they don?t need one. It?s true that email is a pain point for many small and medium-sized businesses out there. Even the thought of hosting your own email solution might be daunting, especially due to how intensive the process can be. Despite email?s shortcomings, technology solutions exist that are capable of eliminating some of the drawbacks of business email. For instance, a spam blocking solution like the one White Mountain IT Services provides is capable of blocking the majority of spam before it hits your inbox. We can even host your Exchange server for you, which frees up time and resources best spent elsewhere. As advocates of using technology to augment your business?s operations, we wouldn?t necessarily say that email will be obsolete in a few years; but it can?t be denied that society as a whole is moving toward other communication mediums that are less formal and more direct. Technology is continuously changing, and a new solution might surface as time goes on; but until that happens, we?re stuck with email, whether we like it or not. So, why not make it a little easier to handle for yourself?
According to CNet, there are several ways you can cut down on the amount of battery life that?s wasted throughout the day. Most of them involve disabling certain features that are innately made available on mobile devices. Disable Unused GPS-Based ServicesBy default, your phone has its GPS enabled. As you can imagine, all of the communication between satellites, cell phone towers, and the phone?s GPS chip put a ton of strain on your device?s battery. However, some of these GPS-based services aren?t really required for you to enjoy all of the benefits of a smartphone. These two, according to CNet, are Location reporting and Location history. These settings use your phone?s GPS alongside other Google applications to enhance your user experience, but they aren?t really necessary. Disable them by going to Settings > Location > Google Location Reporting. Make Sure WiFi-Scanning Is Turned OffYou might use WiFi in the office or at home, but what about when you?re out and about, on the open road? Most of the hot spots you encounter in public won?t be safe for you to connect to reliably, so it?s best to turn off auto-connecting to WiFi on your device. However, even when you?re not connected to WiFi, your device will search for connections unless you tell it not to. You can make sure this setting is off by following WiFi settings > Advanced. If the WiFi scanning box is unchecked, you?re all set. Control Your Data SyncYou might notice how your Android smartphone is constantly syncing to your Google account. This is a good sign that you?re keeping the files on your phone backed up online and ready to go in the event you lose data. However, this also means that your phone?s battery is draining due to it constantly syncing to the Google account. Instead of turning off the sync for all of your accounts, you can limit what syncs and what doesn?t. Do this by heading to Settings > Accounts. Select the account to access the sync settings. You can then uncheck any items you don?t want synced, or turn it off completely if you want. These are only three ways out of many to limit how much battery life your Android device consumes. For more tips on how to stay productive and efficient with your technology, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.
