I am currently engaged with mentoring some young technology start-up businesses.  What strikes me about these companies is that they spend the majority of their time utilising their skills to deliver their product.  They are agile, knowledgeable and very hungry to succeed and to create.

When do they find time to “learn” new emerging technologies?  They seem to have learnt it “on the fly” as they go along – such is the pace of technology at the moment.  With cloud computing, mobile computing and social media now becoming the current “bubble”, I realised just how easy it is for anyone in IT to become out of date quite rapidly.

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There is an old saying which says “use it or lose it” and I will add “use it, grow it and keep your eyes open to what is happening around you, always”.   In this process we must keep learning.

Stopping learning, even for a few months or a whole year can make a huge difference.  It is like being having a motor car – use it regularly and it works fine (sure it may need a little maintenance), but leave it parked outside for a year unused and the battery will be flat, tires a bit softer, oil a bit tired, the gas will have lost its vitality etc.  (Of course it does depend on where you park it – it may not even be there when you return!)

Learning is the same, especially in IT (and most other professions – like medicine, law, tax etc) we need to keep up to date, and even a few months “out of the game” will render us less sharp, and left with an uphill battle if we want to regain our status.

If “IT” is our career, then we need to learn on a regular basis, via personal learning, e-learning, books, attending classes, or as I am realising, by working with very sharp entrepreneurs who are leveraging the three technology areas listed above without even breaking into a sweat.

What are your experiences of keeping yourself in the best shape you can?

Microsoft’s search engine Bing has managed to come to agreement with Twitter to extend its deal that incorporates Tweets into Bing, with the result that, for at least another two years, Tweets will be searchable through Bing.

Google had a similar deal until last July, but Microsoft and Google were not able to reach agreements over the terms of a renewed deal, with the result that, at least for the moment, the two are not working together here.
‘Tweet’ Deal

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News of the Microsoft-Twitter deal was announced, as might be expected, in a tweet exchange between Bing and Twitter, which also indicated that they would be “doing bigger and better things” together in the future.

The final part of the exchange went:

@Twitter Been thinking about our last 2 yrs together. Instantly tapping into the wisdom of the Twitter community. Good times. ^bb
@Twitter Let’s say we stick together and do bigger and better things? ^bb
@bing We’re in. Can’t wait for what comes next.

So at least superficially, they were both happy with the way things unfolded.
Bing, Twitter

Bing and Twitter originally got together in October 2009 at the Web 2.0 summit when Bing announced that it had agreed to index Twitter’s tweets on results pages.

As a result, Twitter is now integrated  into Bing’s social search website, which also includes updates from Facebook.

In July, AllThingsD reported that Twitter wanted about US$ 30 million per year for its real-time stream, about twice the amount of the original agreement.

It also said that Microsoft hadn’t agreed at that time to other Twitter demands, including more interface control, a larger cut of the ads sold next to its Tweets and more linking back to Twitter.

The Tweet exchange earlier this week did not say what the terms of the agreement between Bing and Twitter were, but there must have been some kind of compromise position around these terms.

New Windows-based devices are emerging this fall that balance power and long life with style and a whole lot of “skinny.”

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 21, 2011 — Ahh, fall. That glorious time of year when summer winds down, the autumn leaves put on their annual show and the technology industry unleashes a new cascade of must-have devices for the holiday buying season.
New Device Lineup for Fall 2011
1 of 12
Acer Aspire S3

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At 13 millimeters, the new Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook is one of the thinnest notebooks on the market. The Aspire ships with Windows 7 Home Premium and takes advantage of low-voltage Intel Core i-series processors to deliver real processing power, a 1.5-second wake-up time from sleep, and up to seven hours of battery life. Availability: October 2011.

Already hitting the shelves are new Windows-based devices that will help people connect and share from anywhere, increase productivity, advance entertainment options, and get organized. Rich HD graphics, low-voltage processors, fast boot times, long battery life, advanced connectivity options and crystal-clear audio all are on deck across a variety of computing devices this fall.

But what’s the big trend this year? Skinny. Whether producing laptops, all-in-ones, tablets or phones, Microsoft’s hardware partners are shipping super thin and light devices, which are more portable than ever. In spite of their size, these devices are still strong and durable, thanks to advanced design and materials. With the latest processors from AMD, Intel, Qualcomm and others — and the broader availability of speedy solid-state drives (SSDs) — these devices boot up in seconds, and new battery technology allows them to work all day, with up to eight hours or more on a single charge.

In the interest of showing more and telling less, check out the eye candy in the slideshow for a quick tour of the next wave of skinny, innovative devices headed our way this fall.

You can use a wireless network (WLAN) to share Internet access, files, printers, game consoles, and other devices among all the computers in your home. After you’ve completed the initial wireless router setup and added your computers and devices to the network, you can use your home network to surf the web or to play online games—whether you're sitting in your living room or relaxing in your backyard.

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It's easier than ever to set up a wireless network, especially now that Internet access and routers (like Linksys wireless routers and D-link wireless routers) have become widely available.

What you’ll need to set up your wireless network
An operating system that supports wireless networking
The Windows 7 operating system fully supports wireless networking. For Windows Vista users, we recommend installing Windows Vista Service Pack 2 before setting up your wireless network. For Windows XP users, we recommend installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. Use Windows Update to check whether you need the service pack and to install it. Click the Start button, click All Programs, click Windows Update, and then click Check for updates. Although the service packs for Windows Vista and Windows XP are not required for wireless networking, they can make things much easier and can help protect you against hackers, worms, and other Internet intruders.
A broadband (DSL or cable) Internet connection
To set up a wireless network, you need a broadband or high-speed Internet connection (not a dial-up connection) provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), usually for a monthly fee. Two common broadband technologies are Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable technology. These require a DSL modem or a cable modem (often provided by your ISP). After you have an ISP and a modem, you're ready to connect to the Internet.

Set up a new connection to the Internet:
Windows 7 and Windows Vista
Windows XP
A wireless router, a DSL modem, or a cable modem with built-in wireless networking support
The router converts the signals coming across your Internet connection into a wireless broadcast, sort of like a cordless phone base station. Newer DSL and cable modems come with integrated wireless networking capability and are called modem routers. If the modem router you received or purchased from your ISP already has wireless capability built in, you do not need to purchase a separate wireless router. Just follow the instructions provided by your ISP for activating your wireless connection.

If you do need to purchase a wireless router, be sure that you buy a wireless router and not a wireless access point. The Linksys router is a popular router for wireless networks because it’s simple to set up. There are many routers to choose from, for example:

Linksys wireless routers
D-Link wireless routers
Cisco wireless routers
ASUS wireless routers
While you're looking for a wireless router or other wireless equipment in stores or on the Internet, you might notice that you can choose equipment that supports four different wireless networking technologies: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n. We recommend 802.11g (Wireless-G) or 802.11n (Wireless-N) because they offer excellent performance and are compatible with almost everything.

NOTE: If you do not want to buy a wireless router or if you want to connect computers or devices temporarily for a specific purpose, like sharing devices or games, you can set up a temporary wireless network without a router. This is called an ad hoc network.

Set up an ad hoc network:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
A computer with built-in wireless networking support or a wireless network adapter
If you have a newer computer, you may already have built-in wireless capabilities. If this is the case, you don’t need a wireless network adapter. Here’s how to check whether your computer has wireless support installed:

Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Windows XP

If your desktop or laptop computer does not have built-in wireless support, you need to purchase a network adapter to wirelessly connect your computer to your wireless router. If you need an adapter for a desktop computer, buy a USB wireless network adapter. If you have a laptop, buy a PC card-based network adapter. Make sure that you have one adapter for every computer on your network.

NOTE: To make setup easy, choose a network adapter made by the same vendor that made your wireless router. For example, if you find a good price on a Linksys router, choose a Linksys network adapter to go with it. To make shopping even easier, buy a bundle, such as those available from Linksys, Actiontec, D-Link, Netgear, Microsoft, and Buffalo. If you have a desktop computer, make sure that you have an available USB port where you can plug in the wireless network adapter. If you don't have any open USB ports, buy a USB hub to add additional ports.

A copy of your router setup instructions
Before you begin setting up your wireless network, it’s a good idea to make sure that you have the copy of the setup instructions provided by the router manufacturer or your ISP. If you do not have a copy, visit the manufacturer’s website for get instructions on how to set up your router. All routers vary, and you may need to consult the instructions to set up your wireless network using your specific router.
Shopping list

Shop for a wireless router
Shop for a computer with built-in wireless networking support
Shop for a wireless network adapter
After you have everything you need, follow these five steps to set up your wireless network.

1. Connect to the Internet
Make sure that your Internet connection and your DSL or cable modem are working. Your wireless network depends on this connection.

2. Connect your wireless router
These are the steps for connecting a stand-alone wireless router to your DSL modem or cable modem. If you have a modem router, follow your ISP’s instructions for connecting your network.

Since you'll be temporarily disconnected from the Internet, print these instructions before you go any further.

First, locate your cable modem or DSL modem and unplug it to turn it off.

Next, connect your wireless router to your modem. Your modem should stay connected directly to the Internet. Later, after you've hooked everything up, your computer will wirelessly connect to your router, and the router will send communications through your modem to the Internet.

Next, connect your router to your modem:

Note: The instructions below apply to a Linksys wireless router. The ports on your router may be labeled differently, and the images may look different on your router. Check the documentation that came with your equipment for additional assistance. Or do a Bing search on “[your manufacturer/model] wireless router setup” to find images and instructions.

If you currently have your computer connected directly to your modem: Unplug the network cable from the back of your computer, and plug it into the port labeled Internet, WAN, or WLAN on the back of your router.
If you do not currently have a computer connected to the Internet: Plug one end of a network cable (included with your router) into your modem, and plug the other end of the network cable into the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port on your wireless router.
If you currently have your computer connected to a router: Unplug the network cable connected to the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port from your current router, and plug this end of the cable into the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port on your wireless router. Then, unplug any other network cables, and plug them into the available ports on your wireless router. You no longer need your original router, because your new wireless router replaces it.

Next, plug in and turn on your cable or DSL modem. Wait a few minutes to give it time to connect to the Internet, and then plug in and turn on your wireless router. After a minute, the Internet, WAN, or WLAN light on your wireless router should light up, indicating that it has successfully connected to your modem.

3. Configure your wireless router

Using the network cable that came with your wireless router, you should temporarily connect your computer to one of the open network ports on your wireless router (any port that isn't labeled Internet, WAN, or WLAN). If you need to, turn your computer on. It should automatically connect to your router.

Next, open Internet Explorer and type in the URL or address to configure your router.

NOTE: Do this on the computer that you are using to set up your wireless network. The computer automatically links you to the router’s page. If you type the router’s URL on a different computer, typing the address in the navigation bar will not take you to your router’s configuration page.

On the router configuration page, you might be prompted for a password. The address and password you use varies depending on what type of router you have, so refer to the instructions included with your router or on the manufacturer’s website.

For quick reference, this table shows the default addresses, user names, and passwords for some common router manufacturers. If the address is not listed here, you can read the documentation that came with your router or go to the manufacturer's webpage to find it. There may be multiple website addresses you can use.

Router
Address
Username
Password
3Com

http://192.168.1.1

admin
admin
D-Link

http://192.168.0.1

admin
admin
Linksys

http://192.168.1.1

admin
admin
Microsoft Broadband

http://192.168.2.1

admin
admin
Netgear

http://192.168.0.1

admin
password
Actiontec

http://192.168.0.1

username
password
Internet Explorer shows your router's configuration page, along with the modem IP address and other information. Most of the default settings should be fine, but you need to configure three things:

Your wireless network name, known as the SSID. This name identifies your network, and it appears in a list of available wireless networks. You should change the default SSID that your ISP provided and give your network a unique name that none of your neighbors are using. This helps you identify your network, and it can help keep your wireless network secure by preventing it from overlapping with other wireless networks that might be using the default SSID.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA or WPA2), which can help protect your wireless network. It’s important to help secure your wireless network by setting up a network security key, which turns on encryption. With encryption, people can't connect to your network without the security key, and all information sent across your network is encrypted so that only computers with the key to decrypt the information can read it. This can help prevent attempts to access your network and files without your permission. Wi Fi Protected Access (WPA or WPA2) is the recommended wireless network encryption method. Wireless encryption (WEP) is not as secure. Windows 7, Windows Vista Service Pack 2, and Windows XP Service Pack 3 support WPA2.

When you set up most routers (stand-alone routers and modem routers), you are asked to provide a pass phrase that the router uses to generate several keys. Make sure that your pass phrase is unique and long (you don't need to memorize it). Some routers and modem routers now come with a function called Quick Security Setup (or QSS) that automatically issues you a key when you press a button on the router.

Be sure to keep a hard copy and a digital copy of your network security key and pass phrase, in case you lose or misplace them. You can recover a lost network key or reset it on your router, but these are complicated processes that are different for every router and they sometimes entail setting up your network again.
Your administrative password, which controls your wireless network. Just like any other password, it should not be a word that you can find in the dictionary, and it should be a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Be sure to save a hard copy and a digital copy of this password, too, because you'll need it if you ever have to change your router's settings.
The exact steps you follow to configure these settings will vary depending on the type of router you have. After each configuration setting, be sure to click Save Settings, Apply, or OK to save your changes.

Get more help making your network secure.

Now, before connecting your computers and devices to the network, you should disconnect the wireless network cable from your computer.

4. Connect your computers, printers, and other devices to the wireless network
You can connect multiple computers, printers, and many other peripheral devices, such as an Xbox, Xbox 360, TV, cell phone, iTouch, or iPad, to your network. Before you connect them to your network, make sure that the computer or device you want to add has built-in wireless networking or a network adapter. Many newer devices have built-in wireless capability. If the computer or device you want to add does not have built-in wireless network support, plug the network adapter into your USB port and place the antenna on top of your computer (in the case of a desktop computer) or insert the network adapter into an empty PC card slot (in the case of a laptop). Windows automatically detects the new adapter and may prompt you to insert the CD that came with your adapter. The on-screen instructions guide you through the configuration process.

Use the following links to find step-by-step instructions for adding your specific computer or device to your network using your operating system. There are instructions for each operating system, and they show you how to automatically or manually add wired (Ethernet) or wireless computers and how to add computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP. There are also instructions for adding printers and both wired and wireless devices.

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Use Windows XP to join a network
Add a Windows XP-based computer to your network
Windows XP: Add an Xbox or Xbox360 to your network
5. Share files, printers, and more
Now that your computers and devices are connected, you can begin sharing files, printers, games, and much more. One of the top reasons for setting up a home network is to share a printer. Another is to share files. The steps for doing this, however, aren’t always obvious, so here are instructions to get you started:

Share a printer

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Share files
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
File and printer sharing with Windows XP, 2000, 98, ME, and NT 4.0
File and printer sharing: Frequently asked questions
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Troubleshooting
After your wireless network is set up, Windows can help you troubleshoot network connection problems.

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Get more help setting up, securing, and using a wireless network:

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP

For most people, templates are the poor cousin of computer applications. They’re overlooked altogether, ignored as boring, or thought to be good only for the occasional party invitation. But templates are valuable workhorses that can save time and add style to your personal, school, and work life.

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Using templates can help you avoid the frustration of the blank page, build study skills, make your documents impressive and appealing, express your creativity, and much more. All you have to do is select an appropriate template and customize it.

If you are looking for help using templates with Microsoft Works, read our article, "Express yourself with Microsoft Works 9 templates."

Where do I find a template?
Microsoft Word comes with several templates already installed. To find them, click the File tab, and then select New. All of the templates currently installed are listed under Available Templates.

If you don’t find the template you’re looking for there, you can download one from Microsoft Office 2010.com. Browse more than 40 template categories to find the perfect schedule, receipt, contract, worksheet, certificate, card, or other document. Word 2010 and Word 2007 make it easy to access this array of templates. You can preview all of the Office.com (called Microsoft Online in Word 2007) templates in the Available Templates window and download the one you want without leaving Word.

At Office.com, you can find templates for coloring and other activities for kids, plus catalogs, planners, meeting minute forms, labels—and almost anything else you can think of.

Check the available templates at Office.com often; new ones are being added all the time, like this graduation album design set.

Use the new Office 2010 graduation template to create an album as unique as your graduate.

After you’ve created or downloaded a template, it’s easy to access. Under Available Templates, select My Templates, and then select the template from the Personal Templates window.

Why spend your time reinventing the wheel? Use templates. Here are some fun and helpful ways to use Office Word templates to create personal, school, and work documents designed just for you, your family, and your community.

1. Get organized, and stay in communication
Some people like making lists and writing thank-you notes to teachers and others. Some people just don’t have the time. Office Online has Word templates for many of these everyday tasks. Browse the templates to see what you can find. Templates can help you simplify common tasks like these, stay organized, communicate more effectively, and keep track electronically—and neatly!—of all your necessary information. Here’s just a sampling of the list, schedule, form, and letter templates available:

Youth sports snack schedule
Youth sports emergency contact list
Student attendance record
Generic music staff
Electronic teacher grade book
Student database
College costs calculator
College comparison worksheet
Notification to school of upcoming absence
Letter to legislator urging action, to an official expressing concern, or to volunteers in thanks
And don’t forget templates to help you create a unique calendar for your family, team, workgroup, or business. Lunar, retro, photo, Christmas planner—there are many choices available.

2. Build good study habits, and help improve your reports and research papers
Sure, you can buy or write out your own flash cards. But you’ll be memorizing and studying faster if you use a template, and you might have a little more money in your packet. You can use basic vocabulary lists or create your own list of words associated with a specific book, topic, or language. With electronic notebook, research paper, and book report templates, you can make sure to keep track of all the information you gather, present it in the proper academic format, and make your final presentation appealing.

Elementary school
Multiplication table
Multiplication flash cards
Vocabulary flash cards
Zebra print border for 4-by-6-inch lined note cards
Middle and high school
Base 12 multiplication, Excel periodic table, and square root sheets
Electronic school notebook

You can use OneNote notebooks to collect notes, gather research content and citations, keep track of your project’s schedule, and organize all of your information, including URLs, photos, videos, and more.
Research paper in Modern Language Association (MLA) style
Report cover with divider pages
3. Get noticed when searching for jobs
Today, it’s especially important to make a good impression when you’re applying for a job. It’s also critical to impress colleagues and bosses with your qualifications, experience, and professionalism after you’ve landed that job. Microsoft Word offers many customizable templates for job seekers who want to get noticed—from résumés and business cards to correspondence and scheduling worksheets.

Customize your cover letter and résumé
The first thing a prospective employer or client sees is your cover letter and, of course, your résumé. These documents should both be professional, specific, and polished until they shine.

Cover letter. Using a template as a guide, you can create a professional letter that helps distinguish you from the competition and a résumé tailored to both the job you’re seeking and to your own personality. Word has templates for a wide variety of situations you may need to include in your letter—jobs you’ve seen in ads or those that were referred by a mutual acquaintance, an explanation for an employment gap, a reminder of having met at a college career fair—in addition to templates that coordinate with specific kinds of résumés (chronological, technical, or entry-level, for example).

Want to follow up with a prospective employer, thank someone for referring you, or thank an employer whose company you are leaving? There are templates for those letters, too.

Résumé. No matter what kind of application materials you need—a basic résumé, a résumé for a specific profession or situation, or an academic curriculum vitae—Word has a template you can use as a starting point. Just select the appropriate template and then customize it to best represent your qualifications and express your unique qualities. There are templates for recent high-school and college graduates, transfers within a company, medical assistants, and ESL teachers, just to name a few.

Using a job-specific template can help you best describe your strengths and experience.

Selecting an appropriate professional-looking résumé form and personalizing it with specific color, design, and other choices can help make your job application stand out in a crowd.

If you prefer to submit a digital portfolio, an Office PowerPoint template can get you started.

Track your job search
Applying for jobs is just the first step. After you’ve applied, you have to organize and keep track of your applications, follow-up correspondence, and interview schedules. To help you manage all of your job-related activities, use the Office Excel job search template. It can save you time, help you make sure you don’t forget anything essential, and guide you as you plan your next steps.

Use the job search log template to track your résumé submissions, employer responses, interview dates, and more.

4. Express your creativity, and show others you appreciate their uniqueness
Just because you’re using a computer application and a template to save time, get organized, and be professional doesn’t mean you can’t inject a little of your own unique personality into the documents you create. Using templates can actually make it easier for you to create documents that express your creativity and acknowledge the uniqueness of others. You might not be a painter, a poet, or an actor, but don’t let that keep you from being creative. With a template as your guide, it’s easy to express your individual style, no matter what kind of Word document you’re creating—a party invitation, a soccer game or household chore schedule, or even a gift certificate.

Show your style on business cards. Business cards are often the most visually interesting and creative part of a job search or sales package. Whether you’re a student who wants to paint houses for the summer, a freelance writer, or an experienced retail sales person, printing creative, personalized business cards to hand out to contacts and prospective employers is a great way to show off your personal style. From subtle and elegant to hip and colorful, Word has more than 150 business card templates you can use to quickly design and print a card that is uniquely you and that prospective employers won’t soon forget.

The painted business card and the photo business card templates are just two of the many ways you can use Word templates to communicate your unique personality.

Show others you appreciate them for who they are. Students and team members always appreciate personal attention. You can use a Word template to create an award certificate customized for each student or team member, with images and colors that reflect their unique personality and contributions. Watch a video that shows you how.

Show others you appreciate them with customized certificates.

The personal touch, whether on a gift certificate, a greeting card, a party invitation, or even newsletters and stationery, is always welcome. Find a Word template to help you express yourself.

Get to know Word templates! Far from boilerplate boring, they’re the first step in organizing, improving, and expressing yourself with your computer.

Think about how much you do—or could do—with your phone: make phone calls and send and receive email, IM, and text messages. You probably download TV shows, movies, and music to your phone. And of course, you take, send, and receive photos. It's truly amazing—anywhere you go, you're connected. So here's the question. If you already have everything on your phone, why sync it with your PC?

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Because synchronizing your phone with your PC is the best way to transfer information, settings, and files. You keep all your information up to date. And you have it at home and at work.

Keep appointments
We're all overbooked. If you've entered an appointment or meeting into your PC and haven't synced with your phone, you could miss the appointment. If you’re scheduling appointments away from home on your phone and your phone's not synced with the up-to-date schedule on your computer, you may miss the appointment and have to call the dentist, piano teacher, or doctor to reschedule. Often, you have to pay for those missed appointments. Plus, you go through the hassle of rescheduling.

The latest version of Windows Phone makes it even easier to keep track of appointments. The new Today screen that appears when you turn on your phone shows your appointments and any missed calls, unread messages, and your programs. The new Lock screen displays new messages and appointments without requiring you to enter a PIN when the phone is locked—all while providing access to mute, speakerphone, hold, and other functions during calls, so you don’t miss a thing. Call it appointment insurance.

Take work, projects, or homework with you
Need to finish your homework—a report on fifteenth-century Paraguayan dictators—or practice a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation? Now you can do this work on your phone while riding the bus or sitting in a coffee shop. Have to complete a report or speech or enter data into an Excel spreadsheet for a project you're working on? Catch up with your work on your phone while you’re waiting for your teenager to finish guitar lessons or while you're having the oil changed in your car. It's possible just by installing Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 on your Windows Phone. And because you get the familiar Microsoft Office look and feel and the programs that you’re used to, there's no learning curve.

If you're using a touch screen phone, you get additional features, such as word count and spell check. You can create charts in Microsoft Excel Mobile, plus you can create documents in Microsoft Word Mobile, and you can highlight sections of content that you would like to fix later or that you've downloaded and want to remember. You can use OneNote Mobile to take quick notes or to save web links and then sync your notes with your PC, so you always have up-to-date information.

The latest version of Microsoft Office Mobile is compatible with the Office 2010 and previous Microsoft Office and Office Mobile releases, so you can work with all your existing Microsoft Office documents. Plus, Office Mobile gives you even more options for working with documents from your phone. Now you can create even richer charts in Excel Mobile, use SmartArt and Themes in PowerPoint Mobile, and view the contents of zipped folders. And wouldn’t it be nice to have a choice about how you view those documents? If you use Windows Phone, you do. With Windows Phone, you can choose between Mobile view (enhanced for display on phones) or Full Desktop view when working on documents. Also, the improved clipboard on your Windows Phone makes copying and pasting to and from any applications on your phone simple and intuitive.

Office Mobile 2010 includes a new application that makes working with documents on your phone even easier—SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010. This application makes sending your Microsoft Office documents from your phone via email or saving them directly to SharePoint Server simple. You can open SharePoint documents directly from your phone, edit them, and save them to the server. You can also sync them to your PC.

You can download a free Office Mobile upgrade for qualified phones. If Office Mobile is not pre-installed on your phone, you don't have to get a new phone. You can just purchase Office Mobile separately from Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Read this article to learn even more about Office Mobile 2010.

Save pictures
You take pictures with your phone, right? You take your phone everywhere, so when you don't have your camera, you just take pictures with your phone. You snap photos of your kids when they do something cute, which, let's face it, as parents, you think is pretty often. You're on a great mountain bike trail, and you take a picture to send to your friends. And what was once only available to private eyes and spies is now right on your phone. Espionage is at your fingertips. Sort of. Honest espionage. Like covertly snapping a shot of the cute guy you've been telling your friends about. Or taking a picture of the waterfront condo your parents want to buy. You can send these pictures right away, but you probably want to save many of them to your PC. One word: synchronize.

Protect your stuff against loss or theft
Here's a question for you. What's easier to misplace or even lose: your phone or your PC? Loss, theft, and malfunctions don't just happen to others. They happen. To everyone.

Although replacing a lost or stolen phone isn't exactly fun, it's a job you can take care of pretty easily. Replacing the email, contact information, pictures, music, and documents that you stored on that phone, however, can prove to be an impossible task if you haven’t synchronized your phone with your PC on a regular basis.

And remember this. You wouldn't dream of not backing up your PC. For your phone, synchronizing is your backup.

Want more peace of mind? Try the Microsoft My Phone service. It’s free. My Phone backs up the contents of your Windows Phone—contacts, calendars, photos, text messages, documents, and more—to the My Phone website for password-protected access and retrieval from any PC with an Internet connection. A bonus: After you’ve synced your phone’s contents to My Phone, you can search your text messages from the My Phone site. With My Phone, you can also easily send photos to social networking sites—from your phone—and even locate your phone if you lose it.

Sync and save—time, money, and your important information!

Suddenly, Twitter is unnecessary, outdated, overvalued and headed for the ash heap of abandoned social services

Computerworld – The microblogging service Twitter debuted five years ago, and by all accounts it’s one of the great success stories of the social media era.

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Twitter’s Twitter problem

It’s worth noting that Twitter’s apparent success is something of a mirage. People tend to think that Twitter has a lot of users. But if you look closely, the illusion falls apart. Millions of people have signed up for the service but have never used it. Millions more used it for a while, but stopped.

For example, out of 175 million registered accounts, only 119 million were actually following someone in April. If you don’t follow on Twitter, you don’t see any posts. Only 85 million accounts had one or more followers. If nobody follows you, you’re not communicating with anyone. You’re not really a “user” if you’re not using the service.

Twitter defines an “active user” as one who follows at least 30 people and has at least 10 people who follow him. A source with access to Twitter’s API who was quoted by Business Insider in April says that there were only 21 million people or accounts on Twitter that met the “active user” criteria.

Google+ probably has more than 21 million users already, although numbers on how many of those are “active” have not been published. In other words, the number of users Google+ has gained in three weeks is equal to the number of active users Twitter has gained in five years.

Twitter is extraordinarily vulnerable, especially since Google+ users are exactly the same kinds of people who will want to use Google+: Pundits, celebrities, business owners, bloggers and people involved in politics. In addition, Google+ will appeal to the kinds of users turned off by Twitter: teens, Facebook refugees, and the masses of people who don’t want to learn Twitter’s unique slang and command codes.

I believe a majority of Twitter’s most active users will also be on Google+ within a few months after Google opens its social networking site to the public. But most of the active users of Google+ will not be on Twitter.

I also predict that a growing number of the links on Twitter will direct followers to original posts on Google+, where a real conversation can take place.

Increasingly, Twitter will become an empty shell, a place where most of the posts are placed there automatically from the services where people are genuinely active, and where many of the links will take followers outside of Twitter to social sites like Google+ for ensuing conversation.

Celebrities will prefer G+ because its pictures, videos and viral sharing will give them better control over their images and because it will give them access to a bigger potential audience for their posts.

Pundits will like G+ better because it’s better for crowdsourcing and feedback. (I crowdsourced ideas for this column on Google+ and got high-quality input from 100 people in three hours.)

Bloggers will like it because Google+ is the most friction-free blogging platform, with most of the social attributes of Tumblr. Several prominent bloggers have already closed their existing blogs and now just use Google+. In the future, many bloggers will feed their blogs into Google+, or will feed their public Google+ posts out of that service and into their custom-designed blogs.

Today, Twitter still has a lot of fans and defenders, even on Google+. Twitter is currently a better megaphone than Google+; it’s better for talking at a large audience without having them engage you back. It’s much better today for quick news because all the news sources have established feeds on Twitter. It’s easier to skim, unlike Google+, which is wordy and time-consuming. And Twitter allows anonymity, which is better for people who want to criticize repressive governments.

But that’s today. Tomorrow, most or all of those advantages will be erased by improvements to Google+, the addition of third-party add-ons and apps, and the participation of businesses, publications and a lot more people.

I don’t see how Twitter can defend itself from the Google+ challenge.

When you add up what Google+ can do today and what it will do tomorrow, it’s clear that Twitter is perfectly obsolete.

And should developers build websites or applications?

Is HTML5 the Holy Grail for building next-generation Web applications?

And should developers ditch the browser for client applications that run on specific devices, like the iPhone and Android?

Those are the questions an all-star lineup of Web and application designers from Microsoft, Google, Twitter and other companies debated Thursday during a panel discussion at the annual USENIX technical conference in Portland, Ore.

HTML5 in action: First look at Internet Explorer 9

Moderator Michael Maximilien, a software researcher, architect and engineer at IBM Research, asked panel members whether HTML5 is the answer for building browser-based applications that act like native applications and can be “written once and run everywhere.”

“We have always tried to come up with this universal GUI thing and I don’t think it has ever worked,” said Erik Meijer, a programming language designer who runs the cloud programmability team at Microsoft. “HTML5 in a sense is another attempt.”

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But while HTML5 – which is prominent in the Google Chrome and Internet Explorer browsers – is allowing new kinds of interactive Web applications, even ones with offline storage, Meijer said. “It’s not really native. You still see rough edges. There is no silver bullet.”

Google’s Patrick Chanezon, developer relations manager for cloud and tools, argued that whether to use the HTML5 language comes down to how widely you want your application to be deployed. “If you’re doing iOS only, sure, just do everything native,” he said. But if you want something that works across Android and desktop browsers, HTML5 is the way to go, he said.

“So, build a sucky version in HTML5 but it works everywhere?” Maximilien asked with a smile.

Chanezon countered that HTML5 allowed Google to build some pretty good Gmail clients.

Google’s browser: First look at Chrome 10

But Raffi Krikorian, infrastructure engineer at Twitter, also called out the limitations of HTML5, saying it’s “really nice to look at,” but can’t do things such as send notifications to users.

“A mobile app to me is more than just a UI,” Krikorian said.

The other member of the panel was Charles Ying, an engineer at Flipboard, which builds a personalized magazine for the iPad that gathers in a user’s Facebook and Twitter streams and customized views of media sites.

Ying said HTML5 applications running at 60 frames a second, which Google has demonstrated in Chrome on desktops with WebGL-generated 3D graphics, are fast enough. But that speed is harder to achieve on mobile devices.

“HTML5 is successful because it’s the new moniker for the modern Web browser, the modern Web platform. But it’s still got a ways to go,” Ying said. “We try to build great experiences with it but we find that frame rates just aren’t cutting it when we try to do new animation.”

Most panelists seemed to agree that HTML5 is a big step forward for desktop Web browsers, but is still lacking on the mobile side.

That leads to the question of whether mobile developers should build Web applications or applications downloaded from an app store.