The Easiest Way to View (Almost) Any File

Avantstar's Quick View Plus is a slick file-viewing software utility that lets you view almost any type of file (well, 300 different formats or so anyway) without needing to have the native software application installed on your PC. So, if you need to grab a file off of shared drive or (most commonly) get a funky email attachment and you don't own the application used to originally create the file, you can still view and print it.

For individual PC owners, that's a nice-to-have capability, though probably not absolutely essential unless you are getting a lot of files you can't open (e.g. from different office software suites, graphics programs or engineering software applications) from outside sources. For employees in larger businesses or government organizations however, it is a godsend. Quick View Plus can be installed across networks in minutes, and volume pricing makes it very cost-effective to add to the standard desktop image. It far more than pays for itself in reduced support desk calls and software licensing costs.

PCWorld has written a helpful product review of Quick View Plus along with a free trial download link, stating "With over 300 filters for everything from ancient programs such as Harvard Graphics for DOS to the latest Microsoft Office 2007 XML documents, it can be worth its weight in gold,--or discontinued programs, if you prefer...Quick View Plus 10 can be a lifesaver if you've got a legacy business document for which you don't have the software."

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Records Management vs. ECM

Records management systems and enterprise content management (ECM) software applications are often assumed to be interchangeable, but are actually quite different. ECM software is designed for storing, organizing and retreiving electronic information: text files, documents, video, audio, images etc. Records management systems do the same things, but much more, because they also manage storage, retrieval and disposition (lifecycle management) for paper records and physical property.

With strong search capabilities, ECM systems are good for storing data that may need to shared across the enterprise. The more "paperless" an organization is, the better the fit for ECM.

Of course, most organizations can't go "paperless." Any government agency or business subject to regulation regarding the retention, security, access, and eventual disposition of paper records (such as an original property deed) or physical property (such as evidence in a court case) needs the added capabilities of a records management system (RMS).

RMS vendors include LaserFiche (really more of an ECM developer), Accutrac and SmeadSoft. Accutrac partners with several third-party vendors, such as TAB, a Canadian manufacturer of filing products, to provide an end-to-end records management offering. SmeadSoft, however, is able to provide a completely integrated software and filing products offering, as the company has been manufacturing its own filing products for more than 100 years. It now offers an extensive line of top tab and end tab folders, bar code and color-coded labels, and other products for high volume records management and physical property management. The company's website provides a good definition of records management software systems.

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The Sequel to SQL

What's wrong with SQL? For starters, it's hard. SQL is fundamentally a difficult and not terribly productive query coding language. Graphical front-end tools can hide the complexity, but for detailed, in-depth queries, at some point coding will be required. And it's ugly.

Second, it's slow. Or rather, the relational database it's accessing is slow. Standard queries can be optimized and performed very fast. But ask a question that the underlying database wasn't properly indexed to answer—particularly a complex question—and the query will run for hours, or even days, locking other users out of the system (until the query is finally manually aborted). You've got a query from hell.

Finally, it's limited. There are certain types of queries, such as associative queries, that simply can't be modeled in SQL. Not every question is simple, or has a simple answer. No one should be limited, by a coding language, in what they can ask of a database.

The answer isn't more "tweaks" to SQL or relational systems. No matter what's added on top, it's still 30 year old technology underneath.

The answer is a radically new approach to both database design and access, such as that offered by illuminate, a data warehouse provider that launched in the U.S. this week. The iLuminate correlation database engine is always optimized for any type of query, with all relationships mapped, solving the speed problem. And the company's iCorrelate exploration tool allows any type of query against the database, freeing users from the tyranny of SQL.

Check it out:

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An Enterprise Survey Tool for $1,000

Kinetic Data just announced it's offering a limited-use version of its Kinetic Survey Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) application for $1,000. This is a great opportunity for IT help desk directors to try out an EFM tool that can be used across the organization for a very reasonable price.

Survey normally runs $20K and up depending on servers, users etc. but the limited use version (you can create up to three surveys) offers the full functionality, enabling organizations to test it out for a modest investment before committing to the full package.

Organizations running CA Unicenter or HP OpenView as their core IT management system will probably want to look at something like Vovici instead, but for any enterprise with BMC Remedy installed, Kinetic Survey is a no-brainer. It provides a single enterprise survey tool that can be used across departments with consistent survey branding, feedback routing and workflow rules.

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FindTech Blogs Helps Find Blogs on IT Topics

FindTech Blogs from KnowledgeStorm is the simplest way to find a wide range of quality blog content on topics that matter to business and IT professionals. Visit FindTech Blogs to get perspectives on topics such as CRM, Security, Compliance and much more. Or, weigh in with your own opinions by commenting on posts or creating your own blog.

Check out FindTech Blogs so you can:

• Tap into the Experts—Get first hand thoughts, commentary and ideas from the most prominent bloggers out there.



• Search Efficiently—Instead of conducting endless searches, FindTech Blogs pulls all of the relevant blogs together, by topic, so you can search in one place.



• Share Ideas—Share your knowledge and perspectives with thousands of your peers.

Want to build an audience? You can also create or import your blog. Check out the latest postings at FindTech Blogs.

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Cool New Tool for Tagging Radio Content

Ever hear a new song on the radio and want to know who sings it? And maybe even buy it? Or, ever hear a radio ad while you're in your car and think "I should check into that" but you've mentally lost the phone number before you write it down?

A new online service called Nabbit solves the problem.

As explained in this Your Tech Weblog post, you simply sign up online for the free Nabbit service, program your phone, and you're off: anytime you hear a song, ad or anything else on the radio you'd like to tag, you simply press the key on your phone that corresponds with the station you're listening. Later, you log in to your personalized Nabbit portal to see song titles, artist info, lyrics, concert dates, and the option to download the song through iTunes, Napster or other online music services. If you've "Nabb'ed" an ad, you'll get more information plus promotional offers and ecommerce site links.

You can also check out this podcast (see November 5 entry) about Nabbit in RealAudio, MP3 or iTunes format.

How this could change the world: it's a value-add for radio stations, providing "trackability" for radio ads somewhat similar to online ads. This could bring a whole new class of advertisers into the radio market. It also makes life easier for radio listeners (and it's cool).

The biggest challenge: the people behind Nabbit have already overcome the two biggest hurdles: cost and ease of use. Nabbit is a free service, and it's as easy as programming your speed dial. Now the company simply faces a chicken-and-egg challenge: consumer adoption is likely to be limited unless there are a lot of radio stations signed up, but the stations won't sign up without an addressable market.

What could kill it: Someday, someone (Sirius, and GM with OnStar, are likely suspects) could build this capability right into a radio: you hear a song you like, you press a button on the radio, your account is automatically debited 99 cents or whatever and the song is downloaded automatically to the hard drive in your vehicle. You plug your iPod or other MP3 player into a jack on the radio and grab it from there. It's feasible—maybe—someday.

But for now, Nabbit looks like a free, easy-to-use, extremely convenient way to tag radio content rather than forgetting it or dangerously trying to scribble a note while driving.

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Yes, The World Does Need Another Staffing Software Solution

If you look at lists of staffing software vendors on sites like Capterra or Recruiters Network, you may well wonder why the world needs another vendor in this space. Well...because may of these companies have been around for a long time. Their software is "robust"—which one of my bosses in a former life said is an acronym for "really old but ultimately stable techngology."

But needs change and technology (constantly) changes, which is why four former executives of TempWorks recently formed Avionte Software, a new staffing software company dedicated to producing recruiting software that's web-based, fully integrated with other front and back office applications, and that's actually easy to use.

Staffing types can check out the new software at its official launch at Staffing World 2007 in San Antonio, October 9-12.

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