Articles by Tom_Ziemba

Vickie and I have trained our BlackBerries not to rattle, buzz or make noise when a new email comes in. That way we can concentrate for more than 50 or 60 seconds without an interruption crying out for us to “CHECK THAT EMAIL NOW!!!!!” It allows us to control interruptions and check email only when we want, at our leisure.

In contrast, we have a friend who lives and dies by her BlackBerry^®. It’ll beep, rattle and roll and do everything it can to get her attention every time she gets a text, email or reminder. Talking with her in person (or on a landline) can be frustrating as she’s constantly pulling her BlackBerry out of her hip holster (which isn’t hip at all) to see each obviously very and absolutely important communication she’s just received. You can always tell when you’ve lost her attention (What?).

Even worse, she’s developed phantom rattle. When she’s not wearing her BlackBerry (which is rare) you’ll see her reflexively touch her hip because she’s felt a rattle that isn’t there. Anyone else want to confess to this? But even worse than even worse, she’s confessed to me that if she’s in line at the grocery, post office or OTB counter and there’s no email to read, she’ll play one of the games loaded on her device. Even though I consider her a social person, she won’t talk to people, instead preferring to play games or sometimes even re-read email that she’s already read.

As much as I love tech, there’s a time and a place for tech. Sometimes you just have to put down the phone and drive or walk or wait in line or talk. Do you remember the time before cell phones when people would actually engage in civil discourse while waiting in a line or standing in an elevator? Today people use tech to isolate themselves. Their smart phone becomes an excuse to ignore you. Sorry, but I’m too busy and important to say hello to you – I’ve got email to read.

You never know what opportunity you’re missing when you put your head down and play the 15th level of BrickBreaker instead of engaging in a little “Who do you know who…” or “I’m a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, what do you do?” Every person you meet is a potential legal nurse consulting lead to a new attorney-client or prospect opportunity. Even if they’re part of the 0.003% of Americans who don’t know an attorney (I just made up that statistic), they may simply brighten your day or become a new friend.

This week, make it a goal to talk to people and keep your BlackBerry or other smart phone holstered or in your purse while you’re in public spaces. If we all talked to each other a little more, we’d make the world a friendlier place (and safer to walk and drive around in). In the meantime, stop updating your Spacebook, MyFace and Twister accounts and actually tell a real person what you’re doing and what you do. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

One thing I know for sure about Certified Legal Nurse Consultants is that they all use different web browsers and different versions of those browsers. I like to keep up to date in my software and have blogged on the importance of updating the software on your legal nurse consulting business and home computers using automatic settings where possible. But once you’re a CLNC^® consultant out on the information superhighway doing research for an attorney-client, how do you know which websites are safe and which are insidious purveyors of malware? You don’t. Not, at least without some outside help.

My customized Firefox^® browser will often warn me of bad or suspect sites while doing a Yahoo!^® search (yes, I’m a Yahooholian versus a Googallion).

For legal nurse consultants who’d like a little more advice on which sites are possibly good or bad, you may wish to consider downloading the WOT – Safe Browsing Tool from WOT Services. Web of Trust (WOT) relies on its member community to rate websites based on the individual user’s experience. You can find the FireFox add-on as a download here and the Internet Explorer^® (version 6.0 and higher) download here. If you’re a Safari or Opera user, there’s no add-on available but there is a cool bookmarklet you can get here. Drag the link to your bookmarks in Opera/Safari (then rename it something like “WOT”) and when you’re visiting a website, you can click the WOT bookmarklet and it will display the site’s rating in a pop-up. Clicking on the bookmarklet again will close the window.

This is a cool add-on. Once you’ve installed it, register for membership in the WOT community and you too can start rating websites and helping keep the web safe for surfing.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

I’d like to begin today’s blog by giving a birthday “Shout Out” to Vickie:

Happy Birthday Vick – with what’s in the works, I know 2010 will be your (our) best year ever! Thanx for sharing it with me (I’ve got one of your favorite bottles of wine to go with your favorite dessert tonight! Woo-hoo!).

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, let’s start techin’! Many, if not all of you, are automatically updating the Windows^® operating system using the “Automatic Updates” function (or you’ve bookmarked the Windows Update webpage) for your home and legal nurse consulting business computers. That’s great for Windows but we all have a lot of other programs on our systems – many of which need updating too.

Some of the biggest offenders are those cool programs from Adobe^® that we all love. You know which ones I mean – Flash^®, Shockwave^® and even Acrobat^® – all are security risks from time to time. How do you stay up to date on these? Well, Adobe is finally taking steps to update some of its programs automatically – read this article – but not until April 13! In the meantime, my CLNC^® amigos, you’ll need to visit Adobe’s Security Center to see the list of “buggy” programs and Adobe’s recommended steps for dealing with them. It may involve determining which version of each program you have and uninstalling it or it could be as simple as downloading the newest version. In any event, you should visit this page on a regular basis. You can also sign up for security alerts here so that Adobe can tell you when there’s a new patch, etc. available.

If, like many Certified Legal Nurse Consultants, you’re using the Firefox^® web browser as an alternative to Internet Explorer^® you’ll need to keep on top of updates too. Open up your Firefox browser, left click “Tools,” then left click “Options,” then click “Advanced” and finally click the “Updates” tab. Make sure the boxes next to “Firefox” and “Installed Add-ons” are checked and close those boxes being sure to save your changes. This way you’ll be automatically notified each time Mozilla updates Firefox or one of your add-ons is updated. You should also take a minute to visit Mozilla’s Plugin Check page to be sure all your Firefox plugins are up-to-date.

I know it’s a lot of work, but you need to keep on top of your updates. They’re not going to do it by themselves (yet).

Keep on techin’,

Tom

One of the most common questions I get from CLNC^® consultants is not whether you should be running antivirus software, or even which antivirus software you should be running on your legal nurse consulting business’s computer(s). It’s whether or not you should be running just one antivirus software. After all, you’re nurses and you inherently know that if the recommended dosage is X, then certainly, taking 2X or perhaps 3X will work at least 2 or 3X better, right?

NOT WITH ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE! Yes Virginia, I was shouting. But that’s only so you’ll hear me. Antivirus software is one of those software programs in which quality trumps quantity. Antivirus programs don’t play well with others so only run one at a time on your computer. They’ll often identify each other (perhaps out of professional spite) as viruses or malware. If you discontinue one program, remove it (while offline) before installing the new one.

That being said, the next question I get is, “Which antivirus software is the best?” Like computer brands, everybody has a favorite antivirus software vendor. I’m a Symantec fan. I’ve used Symantec’s Norton ever since Norton was in short pants and I’ve had good luck with it. Others are fans of Kaspersky while still more like Panda or BitDefender and there’s a few who swear by McAfee. As far as I’m concerned, as long as you’re running a top-notch antivirus program, or even better, a suite (all-in-one product) from one of the three top-notch vendors (Symantec, Kaspersky or BitDefender) you should be in good shape.

I like antivirus suites that include phish-filters, spyware identification, malware blocking, etc. In this Tech Tip, I’ve linked only to the antivirus software but you can also trust the suites from these vendors if you choose. Some suites even include firewalls (and we all know you shouldn’t depend on your Windows^® firewall alone), if you need one. Whether you’re running Windows^® or a Mac, read carefully before you buy and remember the key, my CLNC^® amigos, is to keep the program’s definitions updated, make sure you scan your computer on a regular basis (at least twice a week – schedule it to run at night so it doesn’t interfere with your productivity) and make sure your antivirus software is simple to use without giving off too many false alarms.

Good antivirus software today can protect you from a variety of online and offline ills. Be sure you practice safe surfing.

Keep on techin’!

Tom

I just stumbled over what I think has to be the handiest, free, desktop shortcut ever. It’s called “Close All Windows” and that’s exactly what it does! If, at the end of a long day of slaving over a hot keyboard, you hear your spouse shout, “Honey, wine’s open!” What do you need to do? That’s right, close every open window on your computer by shutting down every program one at a time. That can be a tedious task if you’re a busy, multitasking, CLNC^® consultant.

To avoid this hassle, simply visit this page, download the CloseAll.zip file to your desktop or downloads folder and then unzip it. Next, locate the CloseAll.exe program (you’ll see a red “X“). Right click on that x and drag it to your Windows^® Quick Launch toolbar or your Desktop, then let go and left click on “Create Shortcut Here.” That’s it!

Now, at the end of your day, if you’ve stored “Close All Windows” on your desktop, simply click on Window’s cool “Show Desktop” icon (located in your Quick Launch toolbar) to clear your screen, then double-click on the red “X” icon (or skip “Show Desktop” and double-click it on your Quick Launch toolbar). Close All Windows will instantly shut down all open programs, and if you have one running with unsaved data, you’ll get the option to save that data.

This is a handy little program and it’s free. I highly recommend it.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Time for another CLNC^® sound off! Not having learned my lesson from last week, once more into the unknown I go, my CLNC^® amigos. Vickie and I have been Blackberry users for so long I can hardly remember a time without omnipresent email, calendar and contacts. So, it’s with a certain amount of fear and trepidation that I bring up the fact that we’ve outgrown our current Blackberries and are looking for the next best thing.

That’s where Certified Legal Nurse Consultants come in. I’ve heard raves about the Blackberry Bold^®, seen the myriad of zombie-like minions tapping and sliding away on their iPhones like Alice-the-Goon from Popeye while muttering, “I love Steve Jobs, I love Steve Jobs.” I even listened to a friend describe his Droid with a near-religious fanaticism. This has left me up in the air about what I should choose for Vickie and my next phones.

The Blackberry tends to be the smartphone of choice for many business users and even regular people. Go to a Little League^® game here in our hood and just about every parent there is busy emailing each other their schedules and updates, but the Blackberry Enterprise software has a propensity to cause synchronization problems for business users who live and die by their calendars.

iPhones stubbornly refuse to multitask, are slaves to AT&T coverage area and have such a high “cool” factor that they’re rapidly becoming “uncool,” but that doesn’t stop me from wanting one. Droids seem to have been adopted entirely by the “geek” class which, believe it or not, includes me out. That’s why I’m asking you for your help.

Let me know what smartphone you use and why you like it or dislike it. Do you use it to surf the Internet or not, do you email, text, keep your calendar on it, etc? Tell me how the sound quality is when you’re making a phone call. If you’ve had issues that have caused you to switch phones, I’d like to know what they were. I don’t want to hear any complaining about a particular carrier, their customer service or anything else. I only want to hear concrete and real advice regarding the iPhone, Blackberry and Droid or another choice. Remember I’m counting on your feedback for making my purchasing decision.

Hurry! Here’s your chance – ready, set, go!

Help keep me techin’,

Tom

Okay my CLNC^® amigos, I’m going to try something never done before in the history of my Tuesday Tech Tips. No, it’s not going to be something anatomically impossible, instead I’m going to actively solicit the opinions of all my readers (hope you’re here today, Mom) on the Windows 7 operating system.

I want to hear from the following groups of CLNC^® consultants, nurses and/or geeks:

• People who upgraded to Windows 7 from XP on an existing machine.
• People who upgraded to Windows 7 from Vista (tell me your Vista version) on an existing machine.
• People who upgraded from 32-bit to 64-bit systems (you know who you are) at the same time as one of the above.
• People who bought a new machine with Windows 7 preinstalled.

I want to know how the upgrades went and whether you think it was worth it. Tell me what you think about the new operating system and, whether or not, in your learned opinion, it is or isn’t a better version than XP or Vista. Be honest in expressing what you think, tell me how you’re using it and whether it’s making a difference in your legal nurse consulting business.

There are a few rules:

1. No profanity.
2. Comments must contain at least five words of more than four letters each and those words must be in the Oxford English Dictionary (abridged).

Comments may not consist solely of symbols (like in the comic strips – #!*@# OSX).

3. Anonymous comments will be allowed but, to keep the level of discourse civil, comments with names will be given preference in posting.
   
   As far as I know, Bill Gates isn’t reading my Tuesday Tech Tips (he should) so you shouldn’t have to worry about him hunting you down and wiping your system if you say something he wouldn’t want to hear.
4. Mac users will be allowed to submit an opinion which will be fairly reviewed, then ignored prior to being deleted.
5. You must have used your own copy of Windows 7. I don’t want to hear that the second cousin of a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant subcontractor you work with has a friend who’s dating someone whose roommate tried it in a kiosk at the mall.
6. If you’re willing, you can also let me know what kind of computer you’re running it on (laptop or desktop) and any details (processor speed, RAM, etc.) you want to share.
7. If in doubt about your response, see Rule #1 again.

Here’s your chance to help the rest of the legal nurse consulting community make their own upgrade decisions about Windows 7. If you have any great user tips you want to share, this is the time to do that too.

I personally know three CLNC^® consultants who have Windows 7 so I’m expecting to hear from each of you.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

One of you (curse you Red Baron!) called me on the fact that in a past blog, I talked about putting your computer (but not your spouse) to sleep to save money (and boot-up time) and be greener than your neighbor, but just two weeks ago I blogged about memory leaks and the need to turn your computer (but not your spouse) off to speed it up. Well, in the spirit of transparency and compatibility, I’d just like to say “Why can’t we all just get along?”

Saving money and fast computing can be compatible. Yes, I still recommend either the use of software or tweaking of your power settings to put your computer to sleep at night. If you’re compulsive, you can even set it to go to sleep after a couple of hours of non-use. I’ve got Vickie’s computer set to sleep after two hours. It’s a power-saving feature (that’s also a security feature). Every time she comes out of a long meeting, she’s got to push the power button on the front of her computer to bring it out of hibernation and reestablish her network connections. This only takes a couple of seconds (really more than a couple) but for a busy CEO, those seconds add up. Think about it, all that time you spend waiting each day can turn into billable hours by the end of the year but there’s that darn memory leak thing that happens to real computers (but obviously not Macs – just kidding).

So what’s a busy CLNC^® consultant to do – sleep or not? Well, follow my lead and set your computer to save money when not in use by setting it to sleep at night. Keep in mind that you’ll still need to reboot the darn thing every couple of days to wipe out those pesky memory leaks. Reboot it while you’re on a bathroom break (you deserve one).

This is one way we can be green, save time and still keep our computers running fast.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

I’m a guy. Guys are naturally adept at multitasking perhaps even better than women, as long as we only do one task at a time. That being said, I love email as much as any Certified Legal Nurse Consultant out there. I think it’s a great way to communicate everything from the trivial and the routine to the important. I also love being able to sit down and concentrate on the project at hand (guy-multitasking) without interruption. I’ve read varying statistics on how long it takes the average person to refocus on a project after an interruption. These run anywhere from seven minutes (small interruption) to two days (earthshaking event like Oprah going off the air).

I’m sure that those of you running Outlook 2007 as part of your legal nurse consulting business are enjoying all the improvements and benefits over the “old” Outlook. One of the ones I originally liked but now loathe (well, maybe detest), is the “Desktop Notification.” This cute little pop-up, if enabled, shows up in the lower right corner of your main monitor for just a couple of seconds, every time you receive a new email. It’s designed to let you know “you’ve got mail” and to let you decide whether you want to act on it or not.

That decision, my CLNC^® amigos, is the kicker. Say you’re slaving away over a hot keyboard, feverously working on a legal nurse consulting report for that important attorney-client. Suddenly that little email notice pops up and you know you’ve got a new LOLCat or news from a CLNC^® subcontractor about who just won the Biggest Loser. You can either play Whack-a-Mole and quickly hit the [X] to close it or just read it as it fades away. Either way your attention was drawn away as you mentally processed that email and its possible importance. You’ve just been interrupted and now you’ve got to refocus your attention back on the project at hand.

Depending upon your ability to refocus, it’s going to take time to get your full attention and thought process back into analyzing those complicated medical records. You may even lose that case-winning breakthrough that was just about to rise to the top of your cognitive thinking.

So what’s a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant to do? Turn off the Desktop Notifications (and the little chime too). How? Easy, while Outlook 2007 is open, click Tools, then Options, then on the Preferences tab click E-mail Options. Next on the E-mail Options screen, click Advanced E-mail Options. Then on the Advanced E-Mail Options screen, uncheck the boxes next to Play a sound and Display a New Mail Desktop Alert. These simple steps will put an end to those annoying pop-up notifications.

For those of you who like the notifications you can click Desktop Alert Settings to display the Desktop Alert Settings screen. Then adjust how long and how transparent the notifications appear. Take a look at the image above to follow the pathway. When you’re done, just keep clicking OK until you get back to the main Outlook inbox.

Whichever way you choose to run your legal nurse consulting business – notifications or not, I’ve given you the tools you need to control your destiny, or at least your email notifications. Now excuse me, I’ve got to go multitask on something else before I get interrupted (again).

Keep on techin’,

Tom

The other day, an Institute staff member came into my office and complained that her computer was running slowly. I asked her if it was slower than normal and she looked at me sort of funny, then said yes. We went back to her desk to assess things. She had her usual 30 programs running with more open windows than a New Orleans nunnery in the summer.

I then asked when she had last turned off her computer. This was a trick question because policy at the Institute is to let computers run overnight (to download updates, etc. that our techies shove out) and then restart them every Friday at the end of the day. That way when staff members log in on Monday, the installation process is either complete or it goes pretty quickly. She told me it had been two to three weeks since the last shut-down. Hearing that, I immediately told her that both she and her computer had memory leaks and she needed to shut the computer down for at least two minutes, then restart it.

Next, I went back to my office to sit on my laurels and wait for her call. A few minutes later she called to let me know it was running as fast as it used to with no hint of residual slowness. My memory-leak diagnosis was right.

One of the issues that legal nurse consultants will run into are memory leaks (both with themselves and their computers). The brief and overly simple explanation is that the longer a computer runs without being restarted and also the more programs you have open at the same time, the better the chance that some program, driver or piece of hardware won’t let go of its allocated memory when you’re done with it. You will not be aware this is happening, but your available memory can be eaten up by programs or devices that technically aren’t in use, causing your computer to run more slowly.

The way that a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant cures this leak is to first, make sure to have the most current versions of all software and second, to restart your computer on a regular basis. Whether you have a desktop or laptop for your legal nurse consulting business, my advice remains the same. Shut it down at least once a week or whenever it starts to run slower than a teenager mowing the lawn. I know a lot of laptop users who simply put their computer into sleep mode or hibernation. That won’t solve the memory leak issue. You need to shut it down and let everything clear out of the system.

If your computer is still slow, follow the steps in my earlier Tech Tip on cleaning up your computer system. In fact, this should be one of the first things you do in this new year (even before you get around to breaking your resolutions).

Keep on techin’,

Tom