The Best iPad Apps of 2010

I have spent hours and hours (in fact, more hours than that) with my iPad playing, creating, testing, writing, working, planning and more. Here is a list of the applications I use the most.Would I recommend you buy an iPad? Absolutely unequivocally YES! Enjoy.


Productivity (Work Related)
Logmein (Remote control)
DropBox (Setup account here: https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTMxNjUxODM5?src=global0)
QuickOffice (Word and Excel document viewing and editing)
iThoughts (Great mind mapping tool)
Corkulous (Post it Notes on a bulletin board)


Social Networking
LinkedIn
Facebook
YouTube
Twittelator
Facebook HD (Lets you look at all your friends picture albums)


Art
Let’s create Pottery (Awesome! Fun)
iDough (mush up a piece of clay)
Livesketch HD (Very cool drawing tool)
Sketchbook Pro (A very good almost professional drawing and design tool)
Drawing Pad (Great for the kids, has crayons and pens and pencils and markers and stickers…..)
World of Sand (4 falling streams of sand which you can block and divert. Ammuzing)



Photography
Paintmee (Turn photographs into paintings)
Photgene (Edit photos)
Phot fx Ultra (Edit Photos)
Crop Smart (Great tool for cropping pictures)



Reference
Clinometer – Very cool tool to check level and angles
Backyard Birds – If you like birds, great tool to figure out who is making that chirp
Starmap – if you like astronomy
Live Cams HD – Lets you look at a bunch of live cameras all around the world



Music
Pandora – an online radio station that builds music playlists based on the music you select and like / dislike. Very cool
BeatPad – if your kids like to create beats with drums and cymbals



Games
Scrabble
Pinball HD
10 PinShuffle
Yahtzee
Simcity DLX
RealGolf2011
Vegas Slots


Publications
Kindle Software for iPad
TED
Audible
NPR



Research
IMDB – database of the stars and cinema
WebMD
Zillow – Housing prices and for sale
Dictionary
The Weather Channel
Google Earth
Where to – Find a place to eat, drink, shop, etc close to where you are or where you are going
Stumble Upon – Just a sampling of what is on the web



Lifestyle
Yoga HD
Bowls HD – Tibetan singing bowls
SimplyBeing – Guided meditations
SilentIsland – Great for background sounds and nature
ZenTimer – Silent timed meditation
Whitenoise
GazeHD – Sounds combined with video to help you relax


Just for Fun
Inspiro – when you have nothing better to do than think
Jiggle Balls HD – Cool toy withlots of balls and great sound
Forge of Neon – Light show you create
Liquidmantra – like a plastic covered vat of colored oil to squish around
WindTunnel – Interesting and educational
SymmetryPro – Just fun



Utilities
NightStand – Great clock
SaiSuke – Calendar that interfaces with Google Calendar

Why Use a Web Portal?

This is a complicated subject that deserves some attention. First, what is a web portal? Simply stated, a web portal presents information and software services in a unified way through a web browser. It is far different than running your own software on your own servers. A web portal application runs on one or more host computers storing data in one or more locations and the use of the portal is paid for on a recurring basis as in a monthly or annual fee. The major advantages of a web portal are:

• No investment in hardware
• Little or no investment in software (unless the service is customized) as the application is rented as needed
• No support staff is required to maintain server or client systems
• Software can be operated from anywhere in the world

So let’s look at a custom Inventory Control system to compare. If you were to purchase this and the server that it requires, it would cost upwards of $25,000 not including customization and portable data terminals / bar code scanners and the monthly support would cost roughly $225 per month. So if you amortize the cost over 5 years and add the month-to-month, it would add up to about $650 per month at which point new hardware and would probably be needed.

Compare this to the cost to of a basic Inventory Control Web Portal Application – between $420 and $600. A maintenance-free solution at a considerable savings.

So when you are looking at new software, consider Web Portal solutions.

Are you seeing more SPAM than ever?

Are you getting more SPAM than ever or is it my imagination?  The Federal Trade Commission enforces the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM).  But not really.  They collect complaints and those complaints are used by law enforcement agencies all over the world. It collects the information in what they refer to as the Consumer Sentinel which gathers information along with other data contributors like the Better Business World, US Postal Service, The National Fraud Center, The Identity Theft Assistance Center and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Click here to file a complaint.

Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000, so non-compliance can be costly. But following the law isn’t complicated. Here’s a rundown of CAN-SPAM’s main requirements:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

CAN-SPAM; A refresher

Have you noticed a surge in SPAM?  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003. But not really.  It merely collects complaints which are then used by criminal and civil law enforcement authorities worldwide. You may file a complaint with the FTC by clicking this link.

Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000, so non-compliance can be costly. But following the law isn’t complicated. Here’s a rundown of CAN-SPAM’s main requirements:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

 

What is a TRIF?

TRIF; trĭf, -noun (origin: 1175–1225; (n.) ME tru(f)fle idle talk, deceit < OF, var. of truf(f)e mocker)

1) A mammal like creature which would fly if it could. But can only fly a few feet at a time – basically jumping from point to point. Usually hides in cave-like dwellings for much of the day. Feeds on sweet objects that present themselves without hunt or chase. 2) A simulator, one who sets forth a claim, especially a claimant to a throne.

But really, it represents the three aspects of TRI, design, build and support. Just like constructing a building, you have a design-build team that takes your ideas, hopes, wishes and dreams and brings them into reality. Then a support team takes over to make sure the building stands tall and strong. Our team of experts works in the same way to create an application that fulfills your desires, performs as expected and we stand behind that application with dedicated support. That’s what TRIF stands for. Send an email to info@trif.com if you would like more information.

Virtual Art - Is It Real?

Is it really art if it wasn’t created in 3-dimensions? Is it any the less creative? Creating art virtually or otherwise is all about what the minds eye can do with the tools and canvas provided.

The inset pictures a creation of pottery which I suspect many would purchase at Pier One given the opportunity. Alas, it was created virtually with an amazing pottery creation tool on an iPad. This Halloween surprise was created by an esteemed artist using an iPad application called let’s create Pottery written by company based in Poland called Infinite Dreams. The application is a clever combination of tools for artistically creating pottery and a community web portal that allows the sharing of the creations so that members of the community can review the works of others.

So click on the pumpkin and take a look at the 200+ original works of art brought to us by the artist who created this piece and feel free to scan the gallery of the 16,875+ creations from other artists around the world.

So is it art if it wasn’t created in 3-dimensions? Of course it is. Is it any less creative? Absolutely not. It requires the same instinct, eye, talent, dedication, expertise and mastering the available materials and tools. See for yourself.

Changing Your Perspective

The Path Less Traveled

When was the last time you visited with nature, all by yourself. To walk, sit, watch, hear and most of all empty your mind of the clutter. I know, it’s harder than cleaning the basement. But it’s a powerful and rewarding experience. This time of year especially. Sounds seem to travel farther. Colors are more brilliant. Air seems fresh and clean.

The birds are transients this time of year, gathering, singing and nervously flittering as if something was beckoning them. Leaves rustle from the footsteps of chipmunks or squirrels or maybe some larger creatures. Ponds are full of ducks and geese catching their breath before they once again begin the arduous journey south.

So why wouldn’t you spend some time pondering. Calm yourself. Take a moment to consider….. nothing. And if you do it once, why wouldn’t you do it again and again? Think about making a change in your schedule. Think about calendaring an hour to have a meeting with nature. Combine it with a walk or a jog. Breathe the air deeply. Look past the trees in front of you. Find water. Puddles, ponds, lakes or oceans. Look for small creatures moving in the water. Consider how nature works. How water flows. How the wind blows. How the trees sway. How the clouds move. How the rain falls. How the leaves fall. Just spend some time contemplating the things you don’t spend time contemplating every other day. It does change your perspective

Freight Rate Discounting

Earn an extra penny with Net Rate Tariffs.

Discounting the rate prior to rating versus discounting the extension results in differing amounts. Which works out better for the carrier? Here are 3 examples. In ALL cases, it works out better for the carrier to discount the rate first. It is pennies on every transaction, but might result in hundreds or thousands of dollars over time. The example shows 3 shipments of different weights and different rates. The discount applying to the shipments is 66%. Discounting the extension versus discounting the rate always results in a lesser amount.

It is because applying a discount to a lessor amount (the rate) results in smaller discount than applying the discount to the larger amount (the extension).

For more information, please contact rmj@trif.com

BNI Nashoba Networking Slideshow.mp4

Why Us?

Starting in 2012, all business payments or purchases that exceed $600 in a calendar year will need to be accompanied by a 1099 filing. That mean all.  Not just contract labor or sole proprietor vendors.  It means restaurants, car rental companies, conference centers. It means obtaining the taxpayer ID number of the individual or corporation you're making the payment to -- even if it's a giant distributors like CDW or Newegg -- at the time of the transaction, or else facing IRS penalties. In essence, the 1099-Misc is having its role changed from a form for tracking off-payroll employment to one that must accompany virtually any sizeable business transaction.

The 1099 changes were attached to the health care reform bill. They change the requirements for filing the "1099-Misc" form. Until now, payments to corporations have been exempt from 1099 rules, as have payments for the purchase of goods.  Eliminating the 1099 exceptions for corporations and goods was seen as an easy way to bring in more cash without raising tax rates.

Our politicians at work!  Next year, we need to take a close look at how 1099's are prepared. 

Document Imaging - Legalities

I am not a lawyer. I don't pretend to be a lawyer. And therefore I take no responsibility for the legal validity of this blog entry. If you need a legal and absolute opinion, please consult with an attorney. That said, the question has come up, can original paper documents be shredded if they were optically scanned and saved as document images during the normal course of doing business. The answer is probably, or better yet, maybe. Actually it depends. What state do you live in? How were the documents stored? When was the image taken? How was the image archived?

Is that clear? No? I understand. Let me clarify. Document images have been accepted in courts for many years. For example, microfilm has been accepted in courts as a substitute for the original document certainly since the 1950’s. Laws exist in nearly all 50 states covering the use of electronic, optical or magnetic media as a substitute for original documents. The basic question generally comes down to, are they accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Well, are they?

So here are some of things you should consider BEFORE you shred your originals. Your documents should be regularly and consistently scanned as a normal course of day-to-day operations. The document images are verified prior to destruction of originals – that is, they are viewed on screen as they are scanned to verify the image exists. They have been stored on media which is read-only. This adds to the trustworthiness of a document image. Images stored on magnetic media, like disk drives can be modified and overwritten with ease. Document images archived on read-only optical disks are very difficult to modify and then re-save in place.


The final answer is check your local state laws and check with your attorney. Then give us a call for a solution.

The Infrequent Traveler

Is it right that managing a big chunk of time - off - requires a Herculean effort in planning, preparation, notification, organization and contingencies? No matter how organized you are, you need to plan for not being around. So this trip was no different. But it was. It was going to last for more than two weeks. A feat not experienced in more than 35 years.

The nervous stomach was just beginning to wane after the planning, packing, repacking, and the struggle with security at the airport. Which is always tense. It would be different if you travelled all the time. You get accustomed to tense situations when they occur regularly. But this is not a regular situation. We aren't commuting to work, we are flying in an iron tube designed for falling from the sky. Add to his the desire some extremists have to see this tube driven into very large buildings and all that causes and we have a pretty abnormal circumstance.

But off we go, rallied into our quarters like cows to their milking machines. Why do we do this to ourselves. Are we not in charge of our own lives? Do we not control our own destiny? Why does man put such constraints on other men? Why do we not provide ourselves with the same freedoms as say an eagle. Why don't we deserve the same majesty and freedom? Oh, I know you'll say because we can't fly. We weren't designed to soar freely from place to place. We were created for other great things. So we suffer these indignations so that we might achieve things more important.

Warning: Copiers Contain Data

Think twice before you turn in your copier for a new one.  Did you know that many copiers, especially the ones that can connect to your network, contain hard drives and copies of the documents are stored on that hard disk?  When you turn in your copier, it generally get's refurbished and sold to another user or even another country.  Frequently, the data on the disk is not removed creating a security breach for those in your organization and your contact sphere.  Watch this video and see if you don't consider a new policy for discarding your old copier.

Uncommon Application of Common Knowledge

This week at a regional BNI networking event held in Natick, MA, I had an opportunity to meet Dr. Ivan Misner, CEO and Founder of BNI, the world’s largest networking organization (http://www.bni.com/). As many of you know, I am the President of one of the 5,600 worldwide BNI Chapters, BNI Nashoba (http://www.bninashoba.com/). Dr. Misner spoke about many things including the weekend he spent on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the Caribbean and the “butterfly networking principle” which was the circle of events that caused him to be there. Very interesting the cards life deals out when you are open to receiving them. One thing that really rang a chord was his statement that success is the uncommon application of common knowledge. He wrote about it in his book The 29% Solution. Just think about these simple words and what they mean in your business. You need to think long and hard to see if there is some way to apply this principle when you can’t see the forest for the trees. Our businesses are built on some pretty basic concepts but it’s very difficult to think outside the box and come up with a new angle, a new approach. Take a half-hour and consider what you do and how you do it -- as if you were your customer. Become an empath. What can you come up with. I'd be interested to hear.

Mapping Time

Maps are fun, informative and sometimes great for making a point.  Add data to maps and you have information squared.  Here is a map of Eastern Massachusetts and surrounding areas broken out into 3-digit zip code areas.   

The map details where we have spent our time over the last 10 years.  Other areas of the country have been omitted, but this gives you an idea of where our clients are based. The very bright red areas represent more than 20,000 man-hours, the bright pink is 1,000+ man-hours and the light pink less than 1,000.

It's interesting to see a long history of data painted onto a map and even more interesting if you look at the maps from year to year. 

Think about your data and how you might evaluate your business on a map of the State, region or Country. 

Creating this map took less than 10 minutes.  Creating the data for this map took more than 10 years. Maps can be helpful looking at a decade, year, month or even a day worth of data.
A word about zip codes, zip codes make mapping easy.  If you are not capturing zip codes in your business, think again. 

TRI Contact Information

Please note that along with our new offices we also have a new phone system.

Our main number is still functional, however, we all have direct voice and fax lines as well.

 

Here is our new contact information.

We hope you find these changes helpful.

Transportation Resources, Inc.

50 Leominster Road, Suite #3

Post Office Box 452

Sterling, Massachusetts 01564

Office: 800-414-3515 or 978 422-7770

Robert McKay Jones Sr.

978 422-7770 x1004

Direct Line: 978-422-4324

Private Fax: 978-422-4325

Mobile: 978-870-2706

Robert Jones Jr.

978 422-7770 x1005

Direct: 978-401-4484

Fax: 978-401-4810

Mobile: 978-660-1529

Joseph Brochu

978 422-7770 x1006

Direct Line: 978-401-4488

Direct Fax: 978-401-4490

Cell: 508-769-3945

Increasing International Business

Do you conduct business with consumers or companies beyond our borders?  Are you interested in reaching out to foreign lands. You might consider attending Leveraging Your Website To Increase International Sales, More than a half-dozen speakers will team up to present this 2-day seminar on today's business environment.  Scheduled for June 9 and 10 at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge.

Bill of Lading

A few weeks back when I was in an office of a client, I found an IBM Selectric  typewriter on someone's desk.  When I inquired what they used that for, I was told they used it for Bill of Ladings .  I was aghast.  People actually use these things to produce documents? Apparently they do.  So I headed back to the office and dug out my Bill of Lading PDF and posted  it on my web site.  There it shall remain for all to use.  Please, I beg you, let's ban the typewriter from day-to-day production use.  They are for young children to play with and eventually break.

Trojan Warning

Please be aware of a Trojan that is spreading itself by an email being sent from resume-thanks@google.com with a subject Thank you from Google! There is an attachment to this email that should not be opened under any circumstance.  The attached file contains a Trojan that will infect your computer.

On-Line Collaboration

Have you been looking for a way to collaborate with many people in your group, organization or family?  I stumbled on a very simple to use on-line service that allows you to do just that.  It is intuitive and versatile.  It provides a shared workspace for files and discussions, tasks, calendar, database, reports or a blog.  More utility than Google Docs and Google Groups combined.  Check it out and sign up for a free trial.    http://signup.centraldesktop.com/tresource

Compliance with Massachusetts 201 CMR 17.00

The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, pursuant to the authority granted to it by G.L. c. 93H, in November 2009 promulgated 201 CMR 17:00, a regulation setting standards for the protection of personal information of Massachusetts residents. The Division of Insurance reminds all of its licensees about their obligations under this regulation and the March 1, 2010 deadline for full compliance.

Any person that receives, stores, maintains, processes or otherwise has access to personal information acquired in connection with employment or with the provision of goods or services to a Massachusetts resident has a duty to protect that information. A “person,” for purposes of the regulation, may be an individual, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity. Personal information includes a surname, together with a first name or initial, in combination with one or more of the following three data elements pertaining to that person: Social Security Number; driver’s license or state-issued identification card number; or financial account or credit or debit card number, with or without any other data element, such as a code, password, or PIN, that would permit access to the person’s financial account.
The duty includes the requirement that the person develops and maintain a comprehensive written information security program (“WISP”) to safeguard such information. If the person electronically stores or transmits personal information, the WISP must include a security system covering the person’s computers and any portable and/or wireless devices. Safeguards should be appropriate to the size, scope and type of the person’s business, to the person’s available resources, to the amount of stored data and to the need for security and confidentiality of consumer and employee information. They must be consistent with safeguards for the protection of personal information, and information of a similar character, that are set out in any state or federal regulations that apply to the person.
A WISP must provide administrative, technical and physical safeguards for personal information under 201 CMR 17.00. It must address a wide range of matters that include, but are not limited to:

• Designation of the individuals who will oversee and maintain the WISP;
• Analysis of the reasonably foreseeable risks to the security, confidentiality and integrity of records, in any form, that contain personal information, of the effectiveness of any current safeguards for limiting those risks, and of the need to develop improved safeguards;
• Policies and procedures relating to employee training on the importance of the WISP, its specific requirements, the consequences of failure to comply with those requirements, and prevention of access by former employees
• For paper records, provisions for secure storage of materials containing personal information, including restrictions on physical access to such records and, for electronic records, control measures that restrict access and include secure user authentication protocols;
• Encryption of personal information that is stored on computers, laptops or other portable devices or is transmitted across public networks or transmitted wirelessly;
• Provisions to ensure that any electronic records system that is connected to the internet includes firewall protection and operating system security patches, that security software includes malware protections and virus definitions, and that all these programs are reasonably current as of March 1, 2010 and will be updated on a regular basis thereafter;
• Oversight of third-party service providers who have access to personal information, including a process to select and retain service providers that are able to maintain appropriate security measures consistent with 201 CMR 17.00;
• Regular monitoring to ensure that the WISP operates effectively to protect both paper and electronic records, to detect any unauthorized use of or access to personal information, and to identify any areas where upgraded safeguards are needed;
• Review of the WISP’s scope at least annually, and whenever there is a material change in business practices that may reasonably implicate the protection of personal information; and
• Documentation of responses to any breach of security and of any actions taken thereafter to change practices relating to the protection of personal information.

More information came be found in these PDF's:

http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/idtheft/201CMR1700reg.pdf

http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/idtheft/201CMR17faqs.pdf

Are you a WINNER or a LOSER?

A list of 31 characteristics are listed for winners and losers. Below are the top 12. The gift here is that you can move things from one side to another.

For the complete list, click here: http://www.healthmoneysuccess.com/1795/33-differences-between-winners-and-losers/

Our Core Values

Welcome 2010.  In this new year, this new decade, we believe it is our values, more than any other attribute that will move us towards the goals we have for our company, our people and our clients. Our talents, capabilities and range of services are all important aspects of our differentiation, but at our core are these values. They lay the foundation for our business; the byproduct of which is our success, reputation and legacy. Without the dedication to these principles we cannot flourish, we cannot prosper.

We would hope that all companies, large and small, rededicate themselves to the basic principles of humanity and fair play. It is right. It is proper.