Splish Splash

As more and more of us are taking our lives online and mobile, it becomes critical to keep track of our passwords in a secure format. Splash ID is the best app I've seen for this and it works with pretty much every mobile device out there. Not free, but at $10-30, worth every penny.

All Hands on Deck

Free Tool – See How a Bank Views Your Business & Learn Your Lending Options


On Deck Capital recently launched a free online tool that shows business owners how they are viewed in the eyes of a bank. This tool allows you to quickly see what type of loan you would likely qualify for, what the banks see when they look at your business and how you can improve your profile.


In 5 minutes, you can:

• View your options for a loan based on your personal and business data

• See how lenders look at your business, and what they see in your profile

• Receive business insights based on your cash flow and bank data

• (optional) Apply for a loan from On Deck – receive a decision in 2 days



I spoke with On Deck recently and they explained that the majority of business owners don’t know their lending options until they need a loan – and many of them are surprised when they are turned down. Whether you need a loan today, or may need one down the road – this seems like a good service to help see where you stand and what options are available to you.

Into the Light

Google. You've heard of it and assume I'm talking about their search engine. But, many don't realize that Google has literally dozens of very cool services that many people don't know about. Here are 10 Google Services That Don't Get the Limelight They Deserve.

Jiggle and Jangle

Many of you allow patients to watch movies on the computer screen while you're treating them. A common problem, though, is halfway through the movie the screen will suddenly black out. Too late, you realize that the screensaver kicked in because you hadn't touched the mouse for a while.

Mouse Jiggler is a tiny, handy utility whose sole purpose in life is to jiggle the mouse cursor for you, so that the screensaver doesn't kick in.

It has a neat feature called "Zen jiggle" which jiggles the mouse "invisibily" – meaning, your computer thinks the mouse is moving, while the cursor doesn't actually move anywhere.

The GUI is sparse. Just two check boxes. You can't even minimize it or hide it: this way you can't forget it's on, and then wonder why your mouse is randomly jiggling while you're working. Very nice!

Speed Demons

You've probably tested your internet connection speed (I've always preferred SpeedTest.net) and have a pretty good idea of your broadband speed, but free Windows app LAN Speed Test measures the speed of data transfers on your office network.

If you're sharing files or streaming videos over your local network, your network speed is a pretty important factor to keep an eye on, and if you feel like your network's not up to snuff, a quick test may help you figure out if you need to replace or upgrade your router. LAN Speed Test tests how quickly data can travel between computers over your network. The link above is for a home network but it works exactly the same for a dental office network.

E.T. Phone Home

In a direct challenge to services like Skype, Google announced today that you will be able to make phone calls directly from your GMail account. Here's the news.

All Together Now

Here's a nifty little tool that will come in handy: Easy Image Modifier. Let's say you have a bunch of photos or x-ray images that you need to send to another office, but the files are too large to send and you need to shrink them. Do you really want to do this one at a time? Of course not...that's where Easy Image Modifier can help, allowing you to do batch jobs such as shrinking, rotating, etc. Free to use.

Hot to Trot

Microsoft has finally completed the rollout of Hotmail's biggest update ever, making it available to all 350 million of its users. The new look and features have turned a lot of heads, drawing praise from bloggers and longtime Gmail users alike.

Of course, as with any upgrade there have been snags -- with some customers complaining of their browser freezing when trying to load Hotmail, and also some problems when using Firefox. Some bemoan the addition of social features -- even though they're totally optional. It's a big adjustment for the average user, and there are plenty of those among Hotmail's massive base.

Once they've adapted to the changes they'll find a much improved webmail client, and one which is a strong Gmail competitor.

Riding the Wave...NOT

Google Wave, touted last year as the future of text-based communication, will wave no more. Google just announced that it will be ceasing development on Wave, and eventually shutting it down, because it never caught on the way it was supposed to. Some of Wave's technology, like the drag-and-drop feature and live typing, will live on as open source. Export tools are coming soon so that you can get your data out before Wave is over for good at the end of the year.

May people used Wave for a while, and I can understand why it never caught on. It could serve the functions of email, instant messenger, or a live demo but it was never the ideal solution for any of them. It was also incredibly resource-intensive with large numbers of people on a Wave, which is a bummer, because sharing information to large groups in real time, with the replay saved for sharing later, was Wave's strong suit.

Free As a Bird

As many of you know from my lectures, I'm not a huge fan of the free antivirus programs for use in the dental office. The home, however, is a different story. Here are the Top 8 Best and Free Antivrus Software programs.

Funny Bone

Here's a great new site that takes a look at the lighter side of dentistry:

DentalToons.com Press Release

DentalToons.com – Laughing it up dental-style!

Let’s face it, people are obsessed with poking fun at the dental world! We’ve chosen to embrace this fact by bringing you DentalToons.com, the ultimate source for dental humor.

Columbus, OH (August 3, 2010) – DentalToons.com is a compilation of dental humor aimed at those who enjoy laughing at themselves, or at the dental profession as a whole. The hope is to entertain the dental community by collecting in one convenient place, all the humorous dental photos, comics, videos, jokes, and anything else that makes the dental-minded chuckle.

Some of the features of the site include comics, illustrated jokes, photos, and videos. Content has been brought to the site from various other dental entities, as well as from personal submissions from artists and dentists. Submissions are encouraged and will be rewarded with exposure to the submitter’s artwork and/or website.

As a subsidiary of a small dental information company, infodontics.com, DentalToons.com is dedicated to bringing all dental related content to one central location in hopes that people will come to the site and just have fun.

Whether you’re a dentist, hygienist, assistant, lab technician, or even a dental patient, this site is for you! Now who says the dentist can’t be fun?!

For submissions and/or general questions or comments:

Kendell Buxton, DDS, Nate Farley, DDS, and Kent Howell, DMD

Email: ourpeople@dentaltoons.com
http://dentaltoons.com
http://facebook.com/dentaltoons
https://twitter.com/DentalToons
http://dentaltoons.com/feed/ (RSS)

More Accolades

Well, the good news keeps coming. I was just voted by MSPMentor, the top website for IT companies like mine, as one of the TOP 250 people in the world when it comes to IT services like our Netwatch and DataProtect offerings. I realize it won't mean much to dental offices, but this is a big deal in the IT community.

Top of the Class

Looks like my blog has been voted the #1 blog for dentists. It's always a nice honor when others recognize your efforts to inform and educate your colleagues. Thanks to all of you for your continued support!

Stacking Up the Competition

Curious about how your current Internet provider compares to other local options? Take a look at Ookla's Net Index, which has compiled user test results from around the world into easy-to-understand rankings.

Data is gathered from both speedtest.net and pingtest.net, and covers the entire globe. In total, Net Index has sifted through more than 1.5 billion tests, and there have probably been several hundred thousand (if not millions) performed in your area. Those results lead to a pretty good understanding of how a particular ISP has been performing over the test period -- which covers Jan 2008 until now.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

After spending all of yesterday with the Henry Schein Practice Solutions folks in Utah, there are some exciting new things for Dentrix users:

1. Dentrix G5 will be an SQL database. This is a long-time coming and will be especially beneficial for offices who have 20-25 computers but weren't good candidates for Dentrix Enterprise.

2. Dentrix added a really cool Practice Advisor Report in PP7...definitely worth checking out.

3. They offer a new service called Profitabilty Coaching for the ridiculously low price of $675/yr.

4. Dentrix G4 PP7 and all versions going forward work on 64-bit Windows, both server and workstation.

5. One of the Kiosk enhancements they are working on will allow you to send them your paper forms that they will convert into an electronic template.

6. They will be offering an IM service called DentalLink for in-office communications.

Stay tuned for more....

Slimmed Down

There's no shortage of Adobe reader alternatives out there, but if you're still searching for one and you like keeping things minimal, check out SlimPDF Reader.

Even at just over 1MB to download, SlimPDF is able to display most PDFs without issue. The interface is easy to get around in, with zoom, rotation, and navigation controls, and a find box.

Like other Adobe Reader alternatives, not every PDF is going to render perfectly in SlimPDF -- especially more complex forms and documents. For everyday PDF browsing, however, SlimPDF is an excellent option.

Channel Surfing

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, your wireless Internet speed is a lot slower than you think it should be? Ever wondered why wireless routers have "channels" and how this might affect things? Yup...you guessed it...the channel you use can have a big effect on speed. Here's How to Change Your Wi-Fi Router Channel to Optimize Your Wireless Signal.

Keeping It Real

Today you need to remember many passwords. You need a password for the Windows network logon, your e-mail account, your homepage's FTP password, online passwords (like website member account), etc. etc. etc. The list is endless. Also, you should use different passwords for each account. Because if you use only one password everywhere and someone gets this password you have a problem... A serious problem. The thief would have access to your e-mail account, homepage, etc. Unimaginable.

KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known

Ham and Eggs

With more and more people using their mobile devices like iPod and iPad for watching video, being able to easily convert your videos is critical. Like many of the apps in this category, Hamster Free Video Converter utilizes the open source FFmpeg to handle video conversion. Unlike a lot of others, it's got a simple, easy-to-use interface which even the most casual users should be able to manage.

Just follow the tabs! Step 1: choose a video or multiple videos (Hamster does batch conversions, too!). Step 2: select your desired format (AVI, MPEG, WMV, FLV, MP3, or 3GP) or your mobile device. Built-in options include the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, as well as Blackberry, HTC, Archos, and Sony devices (among others). Step 3: convert your videos!

Hamster is an excellent free option if you're looking for a way to create mobile-friendly versions of your favorite videos. There's virtually no learning curve, so it's the perfect app to recommend to your friends who always seem to have shortcuts to crippled trial versions of crappy video converters on their desktops.

What's My Line

For those of you who did not know WhatIsMyIP.com, it's a very handy service for figuring out exactly one thing very fast: What is my "real" IP address right now?

This is something you're going to need every now and then, when troubleshooting network applications, trying remote control applications (although it's not needed as often these days), configuring certain games, etc.

Hole-Y Moses

Those of us who have been using wireless connections for our networks have been told that the best encryption protocol, WPA2, could not be broken. Well...they were wrong. They have now discovered a security hole in WPA2 that could make your wireless network vulnerable. All the more reason why I never recommend wireless networks for dental offices.

Cutting Costs

Of all the areas where dental practices can save money, I believe that software is the best place to do this. There are tons of free programs that are as good or better than their paid counterparts. Here are The 8 Best Free and Open Source Software for Small Business.

Running on Empty

When they first started using the current Internet IP address scheme, nobody could ever imagine them running out of numbers. Well, guess what? According to many experts, we'll have run out of numbers in the next 12 months! The IPv6 should alleviate that, but it's not been universally adapted yet. Just something else to worry about.

Solid as a Rock

If you've been looking to upgrade or purchase new computer hardware recently, then you know that solid state drives (SSD), which are kind of like large flash drives, are all the rage. What you may not know is that there plenty of tweaks you can and should consider if you're using one of these newer drives. Here's How to Take Advantage of Your Solid State Drive.

Partners in Crime

1-800-DENTIST Partners with Dental Senders to Provide Complete Marketing Solutions for Dentists

LOS ANGELES, CA – 1-800-DENTIST®, the nation’s leading dental marketing company for both consumers and dentists, announced today that they have partnered with Dental Senders™, the web-based company that offers free, automated patient communications for dentists.

The combination of the two established brands means dentists can now find comprehensive marketing all in one company. While 1-800-DENTIST® is known for providing screened new patient referrals, the addition of Dental Senders™ allows them to now help dentists generate more revenue by keeping their patients coming back regularly.

“These two services complement each other wonderfully,” said Tony McManus, CEO of Dental Senders™. “Having the power of the 1-800-DENTIST® brand behind Dental Senders™ is going to help grow our service exponentially. We’re looking forward to the integration of new services and new functionality to simplify patient communications.”

“Dental Senders™ is an amazing free service that fits in perfectly with our goal of helping dentists grow their practices,” said Gregg Coccari, CEO of 1-800-DENTIST®. “By joining together we plan to offer dentists one source that can help them grow their patient base and their production.”

About 1-800-DENTIST®

1-800-DENTIST® is contacted by 6.5 million consumers annually in their 24-hour call center and via their websites: 1800dentist.com, dentalreferral.com and dentistry.com. Futuredontics, Inc., is the parent company of 1-800-DENTIST®, as well as the brands Patient Activator®, GoAskFred.com™ and Front Desk University™, each responsible for filling a different need in the marketing of a dental practice. For more information, visit 1800dentist.com.

About Dental Senders™

Dental Senders™ was founded in early 2003 to deliver simple Internet-based solutions for dentists. Dental Senders™ automates free patient communications based on user preferences, such as e-mail and text appointment confirmations, recall reminders, eNewsletters, e-cards, e-notes and birthday greetings. For more information, visit dentalsenders.com.

Noteworthy

This happens to me all the time: I'm on the phone with a client or vendor and need to take notes...but I don't have a pen and paper with me. Since most of us use smartphones, why not use them for taking notes as well. Here's the Five Best Mobile Note Taking Tools.

FaceBook Privacy

There are subtle, precise controls for getting your Facebook privacy back the way you like inside the social network's settings. If you want the nuclear option—no Facebook app messages or pings forever—tech blog Digital Inspiration shows you the switch.

As the tech blog explains it, there's an option inside your Privacy Settings, in the Applications and Web Sites section, that you just might miss that cuts off the "Tim sent you a Golden Egg"-type notices for good. As the post notes, this option will also disable any synchronization you've got going from Twitter to Facebook, your blog to Facebook, Facebook to Twitter, or the like. Then again, if Facebook is where you just want to connect with people, you'll probably get by just fine without any app exposure.

In the Know

Microsoft...one of the biggest and most successful companies ever. Think you know a lot about them? Think again. Here are 10 Fun Microsoft Facts You May Not Know.

Whiz Bang

One of those "I can't believe it's not there" features Windows lacks is the option to scroll an application window which isn't currently active. I can see it being somewhat confusing for less adept users, but many of us find the extra mouse click required to bring focus and enable scrolling to be a tiny, annoying speedbump.

Fortunately, WizMouse bolts on that functionality for free. Download the app from Antibody Software, and you'll be able to scroll background windows (including those opened with Administrator permissions). As a bonus, you can also use WizMouse to brute force scroll wheel support into applications which don't offer it.

You can also optionally focus the window you scroll -- which I like much better than the click first, scroll later scenario.

A Better Mousetrap

It's rare that we see new mouse designs and concepts, but one that has me excited is called the Swiftpoint. It's very tiny and puts the concept of a mouse literally on its side. They should be shipping by the time you read this.

Still...Not...Dead

Are you a Windows XP user who is worried that you'll be forced into Windows 7 sooner than later? Well, fear not...Microsoft just announced that you'll be able to downgrade to XP through the entire lifecycle of Windows 7. That's through the year 2020! Not sure if what we know as computers will even exist in 2020, but at least you can have XP still running.