Acapella Technologies' Blog

Hello All!

I find it terribly disappointing that I’ve had to clean out SO many comments from spammers attempting to force their way into relevance. I literally get notification of over a hundred “comments” to this blog weekly. Nearly none are clearly identifiable as valuable comment. With that said:

• If any one has a means of filtering out this nonsense, please surf over to our website and ust the contact information there to send us a private note about same.
• If anyone has genuinely posted a viable comment and hasn’t seen it posted, please accept my apology.
• If you’ve not seen your comment and would like to, please contact me via e-mail and I’ll be happy to clear your comment.

Again, spammers in every form are a blight on electronic media. Sadly, we are not immune….

Some companies may find themselves at an interesting convergence of circumstances this year. Because of a challenging economic climate of late, many companies have put off technology infrastructure upgrades; limping along on outdated hardware and software.

Because of those same economic challenges, some small businesses and self employed professionals may have missed a quarterly tax payment or two, or don’t have sufficient funds saved for filing taxes in April of 2011. I first learned of the “Section 179 Tax Deduction” from MJ’s IT Business Blog. Thanks MJ! I genuinely want to be you when I grow up.

I had a discussion with Steve Feinberg, Owner of Appletree Business Systems about Section 179 and he pointed me to his blog entry about the deduction from 2009.

The Section 179 Deduction allows businesses to deduct up to $250,000 worth of purchased equipment or software as soon as it’s put into use. These purchases will have a significant impact on the business’ tax burden for 2010.

Steve goes into more detail about the specifics and possible pitfalls of taking the deduction in his blog entry, so please take time to read it over.

So, in the final analysis, I would vigorously encourage you to consider, with the advice of a tax professional, whether this might be the optimal time for a technology infrastructure investment.

Please consider Acapella Technologies to help you plan and implement your upgrade. We are uniquely qualified to help you make the very most of the capital you are able to dedicate to your project.

Acapella Technologies has an entirely service based revenue model. What does that mean to you? When we recommend and source hardware and software for your business, not only do we not take a margin on that purchase, but we pass any discounts we are offered to you.

Again for emphasis, please consult a tax professional regarding Section 179 and any other matters of finance and taxation.

Hi, I’m Matt, and I am a gadget junkie… (Hi Matt)

I do enjoy cool gadgets, so on occasion, my blog posts will highlight a cool new gadget I’ve discovered. First, let me introduce you to the core of my gadget universe.

Since I had my first Personal Digital Assistant and my first cell phone, I wondered whether the two would ever be combined. I was annoyed at having to carry two devices. They also filled my pockets, putting one or the other at risk of getting scratched up by my keys. Even then I knew I would never be a holster on my belt geek. The only guy to ever wear a non-firearm holster and make it look cool was Constantine “Dino” Houpis, who wore his pitch pipe in a holster. But I digress…

Getting to the point, the Motorola Droid X is by far the most elegant convergence of devices I’ve ever seen. When I paid the $199.00 (after mail in rebate) I got:

• A Cell Phone
• A PDA
• An internet device
• An alarm clock
• A GPS Device
• An iPod
• A gaming device
• An FM radio
• An 8 megapixel camera
• A video camera that shoots 720p video
• A calculator
• A Kindle
• And more…

The Motorola Droid X has some cool accessories, which is the icing on the cake. I have a charging cradle that is in my truck that, when I set the device in it, “tells” the device it’s in the truck. The device then renders a whole new interface with large, easy to see and use buttons and easy access to GPS Navigation using Google Maps.
There is a charging cradle that sits at my bedside which, when the Motorola Droid X is placed in it, “tells” it that it’s an alarm clock.
You can connect the Motorola Droid X to a television using an HDMI cable.

Neat stuff.

Using Google Goggles you can most items and/or their barcodes and identify the item, often showing where the item can be bought locally (using the GPS functionality) and for how much.

Using Google Sky Maps you can point the device at the sky and name the constellations you see.

So as you can see, this is the answer to my long standing device convergence dream.

There are a couple of drawbacks:

Battery life is poor. You have to be diligent about making sure that services are turned off when not being used (Bluetooth, GPS et al). This dramatically improves the battery’s stamina. Charging units (from Motorola) are inexpensive through non-Verizon outlets and I’ve heard tell of an extended life battery. With judicious usage and charging capabilities at the places you settle (desk, vehicle etc.) you can manage the batter issue just fine.

Some applications are a little fluky due to the open source nature of the architecture. Android Marketplace applications rated 4+ are probably a pretty safe bet.

To restate, the Motorola Droid X is the most elegant and complete handheld convergence device I’ve seen to date.

So, I am officially a convert.

There was a time when I thought that blogs were utter foolishness. “Any (insert derogatory, likely profane word here) can write anything they want, and suddenly it’s validated because it’s “published on the internet”. Wouldn’t read them. Barely acknowledged their existence.  “I barely have time to read my e-mail, much less wade through all of the chaff that is out there to find a few grains of wheat. I’ll pass thanks…”

Now that I’ve gotten out of my own way, I have come to understand the value of blogs. Stephanie McLaughlin, the proprietor of Savoir Faire Marketing and Communications suggested that I should become a blogger. Savoir Faire is the official marketing and communications provider of Acapella Technologies.

I bristled at the idea, reiterating my objection mentioned above. Once Stephanie talked me down from my blog-induced frenzy, she suggested that I find three blogs, two from our industry and one from anywhere else. I agreed to give it a go.

RSS is a big help here. Once I identified the blogs I’d be following, I found that I could quickly and simply read through their content using the RSS capabilities in Outlook. Helps me look past the chaff and get right to the wheat.

Here are the blogs I identified:

• Mike Reiss’ New England Patriots Blog – Turns out I was reading this one already, and wasn’t acknowledging it! Mike used to be a guy I read in the Boston Globe, and he does a great job of covering the Pats. Particularly during Training Camp, the blog is the very best way of keeping appraised of what’s going on.
• MJ’s Business IT Blog – MJ Shoer is the founder of a company on the NH seacoast that is a shining example of what businesses in our industry should be. Everyone that I speak with about MJ has nothing but good things to say about him, and he works hard in our industry and in his community.
• Vlad Masek’s Vladville Blog – Vlad is a thoughtful and willing participant on several professional forums. Looking forward to reading.
• Rob Mitchell’s Reality Check – Rob is, coincidentally, a high school classmate of mine who’s gone on to become a contributor at Computerworld. I discovered his blog (yes, another one I’ve been reading without even knowing it…)from links in Facebook.

I’ve also run across some other periodicals that I like to follow that have RSS feeds that I will follow in this manner.

It seems you can teach an old dog a new trick. At Stephanie’s urging, I will now become one of the (insert derogatory, likely profane word here) who will regularly be submitting blog posts. It is my genuine hope that folks will subscribe and find our contributions educational and a little bit entertaining.