Tips on taxes and technology

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The end of tax season is fast approaching, have you completed your return yet?!

Here are some great tips on how to combine taxes and technology:

• How Can I Securely Send Sensitive Tax Docs to My Tax Preparer?
• An I.R.S. App Lets You Track Your Tax Refund
• 5 Apps To Make Your Taxes Easier
• Ask your tax professional about any potential deductions for technology equipment you purchased for your business in 2011!

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

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According to Wikipedia, The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is defined as follows:

The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction from children under 13 years of age. It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online including restrictions on the marketing to those under 13. While children under 13 can legally give out personal information with their parents' permission, many websites altogether disallow underage children from using their services due to the amount of paperwork involved.

To learn how this federal law might affect your website, please visit the Federal Trade Commission's website at:  http://business.ftc.gov/privacy-and-security/children%E2%80%99s-online-privacy

Check out CNN's new blog for updates on SXSW Interactive

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For more on the South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival, check out CNN's What's Next blog for updates and information.

NMC co-founder Mike Wilkins' Tips for Success in Business

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In addition to Mike Wilkins' daily work as co-President of New Millennium Computers, he is also involved in several other successful entrepreneurial ventures including real estate.  Here are some great tips that Mike has learned over the years on  being successful in any business venture whether it’s a start-up or a business within a business.

1. Have a passion and love for what you do! Mike's  passion is technology. he loves the constant changes and innovations within the technology industry and enjoys helping and coming up with creative ideas in regards to technology that will help people and businesses.
2. Do the necessary research to develop a solid business plan detailing your business goals and structure.
3. Know the true purpose of your business.  Know who your client is and what you are selling them.
4. Be consistent in your endeavors to reach your business goals.
5. Be a leader!  Don'tt tell someone to do something you are not going to do yourself.
6. Learn how to deal with rejections and “no’s.”
7. Make networking with others and publicizing your business a priority.  Join business organizations such as your local chamber of commerce and industry peer networking groups.  Be sure to take advantage of the networking opportunities and business improvement workshops that these organizations offer.
8. Be honest and never oversell yourself.
9. Build relationships with people by being trustworthy, reliable, providing a good service and willing to share information.  Mike and co-founder Momodou practice this everyday in order to maintain long-term relationships with NMC’s clients.
10. Stay focused on and committed to your dream of having a successful business.
11. Know that working for yourself is often harder than working for someone else, but it is much more rewarding.

We hope you find these tips helpful in your own business ventures.  Please let us know your tips for having a successful business in the comments below.  You can also email Mike directly at mikew@newmmillenniumpcs.com.

SECURITY: More on data theft / breaches

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A few weeks ago, we gave you tips on how to protect your company's data from theft.  To learn more about the cost of data theft and other types of data breaches, read CNet's review of the 2010 Annual Study: U.S. Cost of a Data Breach which revealed that negligence is the cause of most data breaches. 

In December, we also blogged about smartphones being susceptible to viruses and malware.  With the increasing use of smartphones for business, poor mobile security is a key threat to the security of a company's valuable data.  A study conducted by research firm Canalys' study found that many businesses were not doing enough to protect their mobile phones, read more about the study here. 

Are you a business owner?  If so, is your company taking the appropriate measures to secure data?

How to Add and Remove Favorites in Windows 7

Tweet Windows 7 now makes it easy to add and remove the favorites list through the Windows 7 explorer navigation pane on the left hand side of the screen. The following will list the steps in how to remove and add the favorites list in Windows 7.

How to remove Favorites

1) Click the start button and scroll over to computer option once their click on computer.

2) The computer window showing the windows 7 explorer navigation pane will open.

3) On the left hand side you will see the favorites list navigation pane.

4) Right click on the location that you want to delete.

5) Choose the location and click remove from the menu
 
How to Add Favorites

To add your own favorites folder to the favorites list follow these steps

1) Click the start button and scroll over and click the computer icon

2) If the computer has a computer icon on the desktop double click it to open it.

3) Open a folder that you would like to add to favorites

4) Right click on Favorites on the left side navigation pane

5) Click on the add current location to favorites from the menu

Or the second option to add a folder to the favorites navigation pane
 
1) Open the C:\ by double clicking on the computer icon on your desktop or by clicking the start button and scrolling over to the computer option and double clicking on the drive that says local disk(c:)

2) Click on the folder that you would like to add by holding down the left mouse button and dragging it to the favorites pane on the left hand side of the screen

3) Once done you will see the folder displayed in the favorites list navigation menu.

For more computer tips and tricks follow our company blog at http://newmillenniumpcs.blogspot.com

TIP: How to Use a Noise Gate to Get Rid of Unwanted Noise in Your Audio Recordings

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If you are a singer, podcaster or produce any other type of audio recording, check out Lifehacker's tip on how to use a Noise Gate to get rid of unwanted noise (like breathing) in your recordings.