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As always, we try to keep you up to date on the latest trends and issues that face us please keep in mind, I don't want to waste your time. Articles will contain generally less than 250 words. Please have a look and give me your feedback. If you want to see the Newsletter archives, there are more than 5-years available on our Newsletter page. Have a look and by all means, forward to a friend. Thanks. Questions? Send me an email!

Why We Develop BOTS

First, a BOT or Internet BOT is an application that runs automated tasks over the Internet, repeatedly or at scheduled times. The tasks are usually something that any human could do, but a BOT will do it instantly and repeatedly. Where do we use BOTS? In gaining information. Web sites are designed to provide information and the BOTS we create are designed to retrieve that information and compile a database of the results.  In most cases, the database is linked to another database that is proprietary to a client.  For example, we create BOTS to:

• Determine real-time shipment status information,
• accumulate motor carrier safety information,
• establish intermodal container status at port
• accumulate credit status

Using these BOTS, we can then analyze changes and provide our clients with automatic notifications that a customer credit standing has changed, a motor carrier has failed a recent inspection, a container is now available for pick up.

The use of BOTS is big business. In a world that is intent on information, BOTS provide a valuable service.  According to a recent Bloomberg article, BOT developers are growing faster than App developers. It is also the reason you need to answer the CATCHA question or the I am not a Robot question.

Office 365; A Book That Will Help

Staying on top of the major software application in your day-to-day life is an unrealistic goal. But making it productive for you is attainable. In the coming months, we will be highlighting a new book by Michael Sampson, Re-Imagining Productive Work with Microsoft Office 365. Buy your own copy of this book in PDF form here. If you apply the principals, you will;

• Make better use of your time
• Make better use of the Office suite of tools
• Improve collaboration
• Reduce stress
• Feel better

We could start at the beginning of the book, but in the interest of instant gratification, let’s start at the end. Chapter 10. Thinking Productively. This is where Office can help you the most. If you harness the tools, you will improve productivity.  As Sampson tells it, “Everyone needs something in their regular practice of work and life to pull them back from the precipice of wasting time and life on the unimportant. And indeed, without careful thought and appropriate use, the many glorious ways offered in Office 365 for connecting people, highlighting forward momentum, and divining what is important for you to read next can quickly turn you into a fool who can’t get the right things done.”

In Chapter 10, he provides a few key practices for building a foundation of productivity and relates it back to the use of Office 365 and how you can use the tools it provides to become more efficient and effective.  Specific tools that I have written about before like OneNote and new tools like Planner.

This book, more than any I have read, provides a practical approach to using Office 365. More great insights to come.

Lithium

The new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has had dozens of reports of burns and property damage from fires caused by a problem with the battery. It has resulted in an incredible recall of more than a million devices. A similar issue ocurred with faulty Hover-boards. It made me want to look at the issue and why lithium batteries can be such a threat.  It is because of the lithium battery you are asked by the airlines to turn off your phones, tablets and computers during takeoff and landing.

Lithium is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. It is highly reactive and flammable. It was used to create the first nuclear reaction in 1932.  It never occurs freely in nature but rather in compounds. It is a good conductor of both heat and electricity and it is used in batteries because it has a high charge density providing long life.

The lithium cobalt oxide batteries (most used in consumer electronics) are potentially dangerous because they contain a flammable electrolyte. If the battery is punctured and the anode and cathode touch, a thermal reaction can occur and a fire or explosions are possible.  The Samsung Galaxy had a manufacturing defect. Undue pressure on some of the battery packs were prone to cause the anode and cathode to come into contact.

It is why it is always best to wait a time before ordering that brand new device.