Breaking Up is Hard to Do

The words "I wish I could quit you" take on a whole new meaning when you want out of a relationship with an online service. Sure, you once thought you would be together forever, but eventually terms of service change, end-user license agreements mature, and, well, you're just not in the same place anymore. AccountKiller can show you how.

800 lb. Gorilla

1-800-Dentist's automated patient reminder service, Patient Activator, will significantly enhance member dentists’ online presence, Google ranking and social media marketing efforts. These improvements are scheduled to go live tomorrow, 6/30.

Here’s what’s new:

Easy Facebook, Twitter & Email Tools – We’re turning members’ Patient Reviews sites into a social media word-of-mouth referral machine. The newly redesigned page now features Facebook “Like” and “Share” buttons, plus Twitter and email tools. These upgrades enable dentists to easily post their positive reviews on Facebook. PLUS, patients can now share the page and positive reviews with all their friends.

More Attractive & Professional Design – We’ve redesigned the Patient Review web page to make it more attractive to new patients (see attached). Plus, we’ve added maps, the ability to get directions, and an easy-to-find “Contact Us” button. Most importantly, patients can now “Request an Appointment” directly from the review page.

Code Upgrade & Optimization – With this new design, we’re optimizing the review page with the proprietary coding preferred by Google to improve Google indexing. This is the best way for dentists to consistently rank higher in Google search results. This strategic move is better for Google and instantly gives dentist reviews greater credibility with consumers.

EXCLUSIVE: Google’s “+1” – We’re also adding Google’s new “+1” social sharing tool to each Review Site. Just like Facebook’s “Like” function, Google’s “+1” makes it easy for patients to let others know they like and recommend the practice. This is an industry exclusive. No other patient communication software company offers “+1” social sharing.

More Great Things Are on the Way from Patient Activator
Our Summer 2011 Optimization initiative is just one more way we help dentists build their businesses. As the leader in social media optimization and patient communications, Patient Activator will continue roll out innovative, production-generating upgrades that ensure dentists always enjoy our best of class mix of features and performance.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

If you're moving to a new town (or are just looking for some faster internet), the National Broadband map will show you the best providers in your area and how fast they are.

Cloudy with a Chance

Have you been hearing about cloud services but not sure what that means to a typical dentist? Want to know more about cloud-based practice management software? I'm presenting a webinar on July 6 at 5 PM PDT that will tell you all you need to know...you can sign up here.

No Dupes

If you manage photos, music, or even lots of documents, you know what its like to have copies of the same file in different folders. Duplicate Commander can scan those folders and remove the duplicates, but it can also take things a step further and replace the dupes with hard links, so you'll never open a folder and wonder where the original document lives.

The only thing worse than having tons of duplicate files cluttering up your hard drive is cleaning up those duplicates, only to open a folder where you remember the document and remembering that you actually left the original somewhere else and deleted the one you're looking for. Duplicate Commander can tidy up the dupes for you by analyzing the file's size, creation date, extension, or timestamp are the same, even if they're named different things. The result is that you get a more organized, spacious hard drive.

Share Alike

With so many dental offices sharing images, it's a good idea to find easy ways to do this safely and securely. While there are a few dental-specific sites being developed, there are also mainstream photo sharing sites that already exist. Here are 5 of the best.

Split Personality

Whether you're a die-hard Windows fan or simply a Mac user required to occasionally use Windows, it's hard to argue against the fact that Mac OS X has some killer features. Here's how to get the best of them on Windows.

Best of the Best

As many of you know, I have the pleasure of working on a daily basis with some of the best practice management consultants out there. One of the best in my opinion is Mayer Levitt, a dentist who is an excellent coach. He also happens to have a really good website and blog. If you'd like to sign up for his emails, you can do that here and check out his website here.

Up in the Clouds

Although many favorite apps and services are free, some of the best online services are the ones we're willing to upgrade or pay for. Doing so supports the developers and also gets us some terrific premium features. Here's a look at ten of the best online services that are actually worth the price tag.

Buyer Beware

If you upgrade your technology on a regular basis, you need to make sure that if you sell something, you remove all of your data. Cell phones are popular to sell as people constantly upgrade their phones. How do you make sure all your personal data is off of the phone before you sell it off to someone else?

Not Just for Kids

Keeping your keyboards clean for any dental practice can be a chore. One annoying thing is that in order to really clean it well, you need to either disconnect the cable from the computer or turn off the computer. ToddlerTrap, which was meant to lock kids out of your computer (and isn't actually a bad idea to use when you leave for the day from the office) locks your keyboard and mouse to allow for cleaning.

An Apple a Day

The tablet market is about more than just the iPad. Seriously. Here are the best—and worst—iPad competitors you can buy now.

Private Eyes

Protecting your privacy on the internet these days seems like a hefty undertaking, but there are a few things you can do to protect your privacy with just the click of a button.

Doc Martins

In word processing, there are three beasts: Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, and Google Docs. Most users are likely tied to Word, but its offline, collaboration-free nature makes it look a little boring next to Google Docs.

Whether you use Docs as your primary word processor, as a place to keep your files in the cloud, or just as a notepad for your online finds, these tips will help you get the most out of Google Docs.

Bargain Hunter

With some much great technology out there for dental practices, it stands to reason that there will be a fair amount of downward price pressure on some of them. One of the best examples of that are laptops...systems that used to sell for $1500+ can now be found for a lot less. Here are The Best Laptops Under $500.

Mail Merge

Email. We all have it. We all hate it. From Outlook to Gmail to the Great Email Beyond, here’s how to make the most of it.They say that the kids don’t use email that much these days. Doesn’t that sound dreamy? We adults, unfortunately, have no such luxury. For better or for worse, email is a major part of our personal and work lives.

Maximum PC took a good, long look at the center of our communication universe with an eye toward improving, upgrading, and (hopefully) dominating it.

Space Maintainer

Even though hard drives and getting larger and larger, we dentists still seem to fill them up quickly! However, in many cases, there are tons of files that we simply don't need. If you’re wondering what have been taking up space on your hard disk, then you have come to the right place. This article shows you how to get rid of unneeded files from your computer.

A Good Soluto-ion

Troubleshooting an application crash is one of the most frustrating tasks for the everyday geek, but now Soluto has upgraded their already-awesome boot-speed-up application with an application crash analyzer—and it helps disable browser add-ons too.

If you haven’t installed Soluto yet, you should grab your own copy right now—if you already have it installed, you should be upgraded at some point today automatically. You’ll just need to restart Soluto to get the new features unlocked.

Router Madness

You would think that buying a router is as easy as walking into a store and buying it...but there's a lot of features you need to look for. Here's how to decide which Wi-Fi router to buy.

SnapDragon

From Lifehacker: I like a dual-monitor setup. I also like Windows 7's "snap" features -- dragging to the right border for a half-screen window and stuff like that. For a long time, I've assumed that you can't have both. If you try to right-snap a window, it will just fly to the next monitor.

The solution: Under my display settings, I click and drag the right monitor up so that its bottom-left corner is touching the left monitor's upper-right corner. It's a nice compromise. You have to go through the corner to reach the other monitor, but then you get snap features with your dual monitors. Sure, it takes a few minutes to get used to. But in no time at all, you'll be snapping and switching with ease.

Mail Man

Many of you use services like Dropbox to sync your files...but what about email? Online services like GMail make it easy, not so much if you use Outlook or Thunderbird. Here's how.

Mix It Up

ST. PAUL, Minn. – (May 3, 2011) – 3M ESPE announces the launch of RelyX™ Unicem 2 Self-Adhesive Resin Cement in the popular Clicker™ Dispenser. Building upon the long-term success of its predecessor, RelyX™ Unicem Self-Adhesive Resin Cement, this next generation system combines convenience and easier mixing with reliable clinical performance and enhanced bond strength. In addition, the cement offers well-balanced mechanical properties and long-lasting esthetics. As with the original, the new formula offers virtually no post-operative sensitivity.

The Clicker dispenser was first made popular with the original RelyX Unicem cement, and now the benefits of this delivery system will be available to users of RelyX Unicem 2 cement. Advantages of the Clicker dispenser include its consistent mixing ratio, exact dosage through easy clicks and a consumption level indicator for better material management.

RelyX Unicem 2 cement is the second generation self-adhesive resin cement developed by the inventor of this material class, 3M ESPE. It is based upon the same chemistry as RelyX Unicem cement, the most clinically proven self-adhesive cement worldwide, which has been applied more than 50 million times. Enhancements offered by the new formula include a new rheology, novel monomers, and differently processed fillers responsible for simplified mixing of the two pastes. This contributes to homogeneous results, as well as enhanced bond strength to the tooth structure and to all restoration materials. The dual-cure material is suited for the permanent cementation of all-ceramic, composite or metal inlays, onlays, crowns and bridges, as well as posts and screws. It can also be used to cement restorations to implant abutments.

To cement a ceramic restoration with RelyX Unicem 2 cement in the Clicker dispenser, the prepared tooth is cleaned and the restoration is surface treated. The desired amounts of base and catalyst paste are simultaneously extruded onto a mixing pad by activating the Clicker. The modified rheology of the two pastes makes the mixing step easy, and the cement can then be applied to the restoration and seated on the tooth. Because of the self-adhesive properties of the material, prior etching, priming or bonding of the tooth is not required. The material’s high moisture tolerance leads to excellent adhesion even in a moist environment, and once cured, the excess material is easily removed.

With its combination of proven technology and innovative features, RelyX Unicem 2 cement in the Clicker dispenser is an exciting material with the potential to further improve and simplify procedures in the dental practice. Offering a solution with a variety of delivery options, RelyX Unicem 2 cement will continue to be available in the convenient Automix syringe delivery system for precise application of cement through mixing tips specially designed for different types of procedures.

Five for Fighting

When you want to share an image on Twitter, over IM, or in the comments of your favorite blog, full-fledged gallery webapps like Flickr or Picasa are overkill.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif That's where these quick sharing services come in, filling your need for quick, almost disposable image sharing. Here's a look at five of the most popular services for quickly and easily sharing images on the web.

Small But Pack a Punch

When it comes to computing, the general philosophy is that bigger is better. More, speed, more memory, more power--as far as hardware goes, there's no such things as excess. Software, though... Software's a little different. Big, feature-packed utilities and applications are great, but we prefer apps that show a little restraint.

Here's a list of 30 apps that rock without taking up a lot of space. Every program in this list can be downloaded for free, and takes up less than 2 megabytes of space. Read on for more!

A Call to Arms

As those of you who use dental photography well know, there's been a recent "arms race", with vendors coming out with higher and higher megapixel cameras. Well, many companies are starting to believe that this isn't necessary as 12 megapixels is probably fine for most applications. Here's why some people think we've reached the end of the megapixel race.

Seeing Is Believing

With people traveling less and less these days, being able to communicate through video is becoming more and more popular. Here are The Five Best Apps for Real-time Video Chat.

Give it the Boot

Do you feel like you have to reboot your Windows PC all the time, either because you've installed new software or because Windows is always updating? This wouldn't be a huge deal for some, but many computers take a while to reboot. Anything you can do to avoid the hassle? Read on!

The Haves and the Have Nots

Working with many dental practices, I know that many of you are more and more dependent on your mobile phones. For many dentists, it becomes a meter of which one to get: the iPhone or an Android? As an Android user myself, I was happy to see this article on The Top 10 Awesome Android Features that the iPhone Doesn't Have.

Legalese

When you hit, "Ok" to accept the terms of software you're installing, you may be giving up more than you know. Using iTunes as an example, here's what you need to know about their (yipes!) 56-page agreement.

Dress It Up

We all have a few favorite web sites, even when they're not perfect. You don't necessarily have to live with those imperfections, however, as userscripts and userstyles provide you with the option to customize just about anything. Here's a look at how they work, how to use them, and even how to get started on making your own.