Southern New Jersey Overlook

head_left_image

Cybercrime Learns Teamwork - To Your Detriment

Cybercriminals are becoming more effective as they learn to embrace the concepts of teamwork.  According to the latest reports and articles that are appearing about the continued and growing threat of cybercrime, hackers are specializing in areas in which they are good at, such as writing malware to do specific functions, then selling the code to those that are good at packaging code and good at spreading it. 

As our defenses against malware, spam and phishing attacks improve, so does the sophistication, specialization and organization of the cybercriminals.   This includes communication using encrption techniques, making it more difficult to detect, and "improved" variants on phishing,

It is important that individuals and especially businesses obtain and maintain the latest defensive software/hardware: anti-virus, firewalls, anti-spam, virtual private networks, filtering, activity and intrusion detection monitoring.  It's even more important to properly train your staff about what to look out for and avoid when accessing outside resources -- and stay informed yourself -- as it is usually less costly and much less stressful to protect your system from attacks than to have to deal with finding and removing malicious software after an intrusion occurs, when damage may already have been done to you business.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
   
and visit BestProperties-NJ.com to learn more about our commercial services and resources.   
  
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

 

Beauty of Medford Lakes - Winter

Medford Lakes is a great place to experience and enjoy the seasons of the year.   With the natural beauty of it's many lakes, woods, unique homes and trails there is alway something new to experience as each season paints new colors and textures on the landscape.

Although my photographs will not do it justice, here are my attempts at showing a section of Medford Lakes after an ice storm. 

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm - Beach 3

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

 Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm

Medford Lakes - Winter - After Ice Storm
 
      
The best way to enjoy the unique experience of Medford Lakes is of course to be here!
 



Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

New Jersey Business Resources

Official New Jersey state resources for starting and growing your business.

New Jersey is where the world comes to do business. The state is a major business center - more than 20 percent of the world's Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in or near the state.-NJTKB

The State of New Jersey offers help with establishing and stating up a new business, business relocation, incubator resources, conducting ongoing business operations and also for getting your business to the next level. Here are some resource links to get you started taking advantage of New Jersey's business support programs...

NJ - Taking Care of Business - official NJ state home page for links to information and resources for starting a business, conducting business, licensing and permits, government contacts and more. [FAQs]
New Jersey Small Business Development Centers
NJ Small Business Development Centers - The New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC) network helps small businesses expand operations, manage growth or launch new ventures. Free resources available. With offices in every county of the state, NJSBDC consultants help small business owners finance, market and manage their ventures.

NJ Business Gateway Registry Services - Main directory for businesses to New Jersey's official state information and resouces for registration, forms, reporting, licensing, commercial and legal filings, records and more.

New Jersey CommerceNJ Commerce - New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth & Tourism Commission's web site.The Commission is the state's primary agency in coordinating efforts between government and the private sector to provide access to a broad range of technical, financial and other assistance programs to help businesses grow and contribute to New Jersey's strong economy.This site has been designed for all existing businesses, start-ups and companies looking to relocate or establish operations in New Jersey. Includes interactive mapping and location assessment tools, licensing/regulatory assistance and more.

Small Business Services - The Office of Business Services (part of the NJ Commerce services mentioned above) works with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), New Jersey's Economic Development Authority (EDA) and Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC) to ensure the best, most efficient service, education and training for small business entrepreneurs. Includes resource links, location assessment tools (including environmental, economic growth planning, demographics), licensing and regulatory assistance, international trade and economic development support and more.


Additional Business Resources in New Jersey:
NJBiz - Online version NJBIZ, New Jersey's only weekly business journal covering the entire state, since 1987.

See also prior article about the U.S. government's Business.com.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
   
and visit BestProperties-NJ.com to learn more about our commercial services and resources.   
  
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

Avoiding Foreclosure In New Jersey

Don't lose your home!  New Jersey and the federal government have resources that you can access if you are having difficulty meeting your mortgage payments -- to help avoid a foreclosure.

Here is some guidance on default and foreclosure prevention in New Jersey, provided by HUD and the State of NJ:

Housing counseling - counseling on buying, renting, defaults, foreclosures, credit issues and reverse mortgages

New Jersey Fair Foreclosure Act: organizations providing financial assistance or counseling to borrowers (PDF)

New Jersey foreclosure law summary

Legal assistance

New Jersey Office of Consumer Protection


Additional resources:
New Jersey Fair Foreclosure Act - Creditor's rights explanation provided by a NJ law firm.

HUD: How to Avoid Foreclosure

See also my previous article about Financial Resources for Homebuyers and Homeowners of Houses Needing Repair
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

New Jersey School Report Cards for 2006 Now Available

The School Report Card for 2006 is now available through the New Jersey Department of Education website. A valuable tool for interested buyers, the School Report Card contains statistical information about all elementary and secondary public schools in the state. The Report Card is also produced for vocational schools, special education schools, charter schools and special services school districts.

Go to education.state.nj.us/rc/rc06/index.html to access the 2006 results. 

(Or go to the New Jersey School Reports article for link to main school reports page.)

See also "More Local Resources" for additional school reports and state/county/local and regional information resources.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

New Jersey School Reports

New Jersey's Department of Education provides reports at local, district and state levels for the No Child Left Behind (NJLB) program and the annual New Jersey School Report Card.
 
New Jersey Department of EducationThe annual New Jersey School Report Card is required under a 1995 state law. It presents thirty-five fields of information for each school in the following categories: school environment, students, student performance indicators, staff, and district finances.
 
The assessment results displayed on the New Jersey School Report Cards are based on the state assessment data without any NCLB conditions applied. Therefore, the assessment data in the NJ School Report Card may be different from the assessment data displayed on the NCLB Reports where there have been NCLB conditions applied to the test results.   (Source: NJDOE)


Click here for NJ School Reports


See also my "More Local Resources" page for additional school reports and state/county/local and regional information resources.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

Upgrade Considerations for MS Windows and Office

In follow up to my prior reviews about Microsoft's Windows Vista and Office 2007 here are some additional thoughts...

For those running Windows 2000 (2K), there is no longer any offical development support being provided by Microsoft.  It has officially reached the end of it's life cycle.  If you have to upgrade or want to maintain access to the latest security updates and applications (Internet Explore and Windows Media), you may want to consider upgrading to Windows XP Pro (or Windows 2003 Server if needed) as XP is stable, may possibly run with minimal or no change in hardware (suggest at least 512MB RAM, possibly an additional hard drive, may also require upgrading video hardware -- test first, creating separate XP partition) and will continue to be officially supported by Microsoft until 2010

Most software that runs in Windows 2000, unless involving special hardware or special Windows 2K only features, will also run in Windows XP. 

By the way, it took five years after releasing Windows XP for Microsoft to release Windows Vista because Microsoft had diverted it's attention to fixing security problems with the existing Windows systems.  Now that Vista has been released, Microsoft will be attempting to stay with a regular schedule of releasing new versions every two to two-and-a-half years.  In other words, the next version after Vista is expected to be available in 2009.  This means that Windows XP will continue to be supported until after the next version of Windows.

Office 2007 runs fine in Windows XP Pro (or Windows 2003).   If you already have Office 2003 and it's doing everything you need, then there is no major incentive to upgrade.  However, if you desire the collaboration, XML standardization, user interface enhancements that Office 2007 offers, then you will also benefit from many other refinements and features.  OneNote is a useful utility that gives "sticky note" capabilities as well as a wealth of features including the ability to do screensaves, "print" to OneNote, then add comments, edits, etc. and then print hardcopy or save as file, among others. 

For those that use Frontpage, it is no longer provided as part of the Office suite.  Is has been enhanced and optimized for CSS, XML and XSLT and renamed to Microsoft Expression Web.  If you have legacy web pages developed using Frontpage or use it to cut and past HTML into blogs or other online postings, it is strongly recommended that you do not remove your current version of Frontpage and install Expression Web separately. 

For additional information see: Microsoft's Windows Vista and Office 2007
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

Alternatives to Windows Mobile Devices - Part 5

In my previous blog article, I discussed the forthcoming Windows Mobile - Version 6.   It was my recommendation to hold off with any purchases of mobile devices until the Summer of 2007.  However, if you can't wait that long to upgrade your phone or you need web and email access on your phone, there are other alternatives...
 
Most services providers, such as VerizonWireless and T-Mobile offer phones that -- while they may not have all of the Windows Mobile capabilities -- allow you to have basic access to the web, send and receive email, provide GPS navigation (requires GPS capability), download and play music (MP3's, etc.), save and create your own ringtones (including playback of MIDI files), SD memory card storage and more.  VerizonWireless and the others have additional services (for a fee) providing access to video, music, news, weather and more.LG VX8300
 
A good example of these types of devices is VerizonWireless's LG VX8300 phone, which I switched to after first trying out a Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone device.  It has allowed me to surf the web, watch news clips, play my favorite MP3 music files, create ringtones, I now let its Verizon Navigator (GPS) system provide visual and verbal directions while driving.  It also has a built-in camera and Bluetooth capabilities.  The phone is one of the more rugged phones I've had and comes with excellent built-in stereo speakers.  

Because text input is limited to the phone keypad, it is not something that you will be using for regular web browsing, but it has proven useful... I can even access and view ActiveRain.com, although admittedly, it can get cumbersome and tedious over an extended period of time.

Depending on your provider and your contract status, you may be able to get the phone for free (or free with rebates).

Service costs (approximate, per month) are: Web access, $5; V Cast (Video Clips and Web, with unlimited minutes -- i.e., no minutes charged for usage), $15; Navigation (requires GPS), $10.  If you don't have the full V Cast package, then you will pay for peak minutes usage (free on off peak) when Web and Navigator services. 

Here are some resources links for the VX8300 for you to obtain more information and get the most use out of the phone:
LG VX8300 - Tips, Tricks, Tutorials and Hacks - user blog.
LG VX8300 Specifications - Information provided by LG, the manufacturer.
Buy Online - PhoneDog - also includes specification information.
VX8300 - Complete Tutorial - (note some of the information here is dated.  For example, there is no longer an MP3 playing issue with version 4 of the control software).
 
 
Note:  I realize that, with regard to smartphone and PDA devices, there are other alternatives to Windows Mobile, such as the Palm operating system, among others.  I'm a regular Palm PDA user myself (with a large investment in Palm application and utility software), but currently see no long-term development path for the Palm system and a shrinking market share.  As most know by now, Palm split off the Palm software part of it's company -- so any new Palm hardware devices are free to use Windows Mobile or any other operating system.  There are too many disadvantages to me at this time to allow me to comfortably consider equivalent alternatives to Windows Mobile devices.


Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

Windows Mobile - Version 6 in 2007 - Part 4

In a previous blog (Windows Mobile - Part 2 - Addons and Resources), I mentioned that Microsoft's current Windows Mobile, version 5.0, comes in editions for the Smartphone, the Pocket PC and Pocket PC phone.
Windows Mobile 5.0 main page 
A new Windows Mobile, version 6, is slated for release in the middle of 2007.  It will be better able to take advantage of the new hardware becoming available.  In additional it will provide tweaks to the user interface, enhanced enterprise features and new features to put it more on a par with competitors,  as well as some usability/application improvements.
 
Microsoft has announced the following changes in naming conventions for its Mobile 6 vs Mobile 5.0 editions:
 

Windows Mobile 5.0 Naming Windows Mobile 6 Naming
Windows Mobile 5.0 for SmartphoneWindows Mobile 6 Standard
Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone EditionWindows Mobile 6 Professional
Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PCWindows Mobile 6 Classic

 
Buyer Recommendation: If you're considering buying a Windows Mobile device, it is my recommendation to hold off until the new versions are released this summer.  Otherwise, you should make sure that your device is compatible and upgradable to the new version of Windows Mobile.

Here are some additional links at Microsoft if you want to keep up with what is happening with Microsoft Windows Mobile:

What's New In Windows Mobile 6 (for Developers, but you can glean some general information about what is in it and where it is headed)
Microsoft Windows Mobile - home page
Microsoft Windows Mobile for Developers - tools, resources and programs
Pocket PC Freeware - from Microsoft
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

Alarm Clock That Runs and Hides

For those of us who sometimes tend to hit the alarm snooze button several times before getting out of bed, here is the ultimate nemesis to getting a few more minutes of shuteye...

ClockyClocky, the alarm clock that runs away and hides when you don't wake up. Clocky gives you one chance (with a grace period of from 0 to 9 minutes) to get up. But if you snooze, Clocky will jump off of your nightstand and wheel around your room looking for a place to hide. Clocky is kind of like a misbehaving pet, only he will get up at the right time.   (Source: http://www.nandahome.com/)

Clocky originated as a conceptual project for an industrial design course by a MIT graduate student, Guari Nanda, who often had difficulty responding to her alarm clock.  It was first posted to the class web page, then eventually noticed and reported about on the Internet in 2005.  It generated so much interested she has now made it into a commercial product.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).   
 
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved 

Dam Safety Resources

Dam Safety: A National Concern

damsDams bring water, power, flood control, recreation, economic possibilities and many other advantages to people. But people must understand that safe operation and maintenance is key to sustaining these advantages and avoiding potential disaster.    (Source: ASDSO)   See: Dam Safety 101

National Inventory of Dams - Information on more than 79,000 state- and federally-regulated dams

National Performance of Dams Program - Formally launched in 1994 at Stanford University, the NPDP is an effort to establish within the dam engineering and safety community the ability to learn from the in-service performance of dams, supporting improvements in dam design, operation, engineering, and public policy.  (Search database)

Dam Safety Publications and Resources - provided by FEMA.

Dam Safety Program Tools - Safe dams - links.

Dam Safety TSC - Resources for Dam Safety Programs.

Dam Safety of NJ - Dam safety and flood control for state of New Jersey.
 
Dam Safety PA -  Dam safety for the state of Pennsylvania


 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: LawrenceYerkes.com
   
and visit BestProperties-NJ.com to learn more about our commercial services and resources.   
  
Copyright 2007 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.