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Have Evernote files you want to transfer to OneNote?

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I still maintain that OneNote is the best FREE tool you’re not using. Especially if you have a touch or pen device — but any device will do. There’s a OneNote App for that (really!). One of the arguments against switching over to OneNote was the lack of ability to move those files over easily. Well, here goes that argument.

Microsoft has released a tool that will import your Evernote files into OneNote from the Evernote Plus ($25/yr) and Evernote Premium ($50/yr). No word on the ability to import from the Basic (free) or Business ($120/yr/user) versions.

This is version 1 of the tool, so I’m sure there will be glitches and imperfections. I would also anticipate that, if successful, the tool will be upgraded to include all versions. In order to use this new tool, you’ll need Windows 7 or later. There currently is no Mac version of the converter tool.

Once you’ve run the tool, the files you import will be available across all devices (Win, Mac, iOS, and Android). Microsoft offers up a graph with the features gained by doing the import.

Microsoft also provides more details on how to use OneNote importer on this support page.

Remember – -this is a Version 1 tool. Your mileage may vary — but I still suggest you do it!

Source: Mary Jo Foley from All About Microsoft

Be careful with your App downloads

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CBS News did a piece this morning on how the Bad Guys are using Apps to steal your data and money. Games, Flashlight Apps, etc. all generally ask for WAY more permissions than they need.

Be careful. Be aware.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/cyber-thieves-hacking-victims-through-mobile-apps/

Data in the clouds or under the sea?

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A New York Times article published on 1/31/16 highlights a new data center project from one of Microsoft’s Research groups called NExT (New Experiences and Technologies) that is solving a big data center problem (heat) with the cool ocean waters.

Today’s data centers, which power everything from streaming video to social networking and email, contain thousands of computer servers generating lots of heat. When there is too much heat, the servers crash.

Putting the gear under cold ocean water could fix the problem. It may also answer the exponentially growing energy demands of the computing world because Microsoft is considering pairing the system either with a turbine or a tidal energy system to generate electricity.

The effort, code-named Project Natick, might lead to strands of giant steel tubes linked by fiber optic cables placed on the seafloor. Another possibility would suspend containers shaped like jelly beans beneath the surface to capture the ocean current with turbines that generate electricity.

The experiment was a success — so much so that they extended the time and even ran some commercial data processing projects from the Azure cloud service.

The first prototype, affectionately named Leona Philpot — a character in Microsoft’s Halo video game series — has been returned, partly covered with barnacles, to the company’s corporate campus here.

It is a large white steel tube, covered with heat exchangers, with its ends sealed by metal plates and large bolts. Inside is a single data center computing rack that was bathed in pressurized nitrogen to efficiently remove heat from computing chips while the system was tested on the ocean floor.

This type of experiment leads to many other exciting options — better server hardware (can’t send a tech in the middle of the night to fix them under the sea), greener power (tidal wave generation, enhanced hardware power efficiency), etc.

It’s entirely possible that in the near future when you’re using the “cloud” you might actually be “under the sea.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/technology/microsoft-plumbs-oceans-depths-to-test-underwater-data-center.html?_r=0

Microsoft, Privacy and the Big Debate

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hullabaloo

There’s been much made about the information Microsoft collects and uses for its own purposes. It’s really come to “light” with the push of Windows 10 upgrades and Microsoft’s inability to communicate anything effectively.

Here’s my take on the whole matter: Microsoft finally did what my mother always told me not to. (“If EVERYONE jumped off the bridge, would you have to?”) Oh sure, they’ve been collecting data on you all along. Just not as much and not as often. How do you think they knew how many machines were running what operating system and what kind of machine it was?

However, if the “new revelations” about the data Microsoft is collecting on you just scare you silly; I suggest you:

  • close that Chrome Browser,
  • deactivate your GMail,
  • shut down your
    • Facebook account,
    • Instagram,
    • SnapChat,
    • Twitter,
  • remove iTunes,
  • and shut down your iCloud account

Although from a “selling you out” and “invading your privacy” standpoint, the damage is already done.

Microsoft is not doing anything that the others aren’t already doing. None are completely transparent in what they do with the data. That’s a problem for anyone truly and deeply concerned about privacy.

Here’s my example. I’m not a Google fan. I was when they started out, but I became troubled with their revenue model. It bugs me. They rely almost entirely on advertising for revenue. That makes where I go, what I look at, click on and buy extremely attractive for collection — and that’s exactly what they do. Want to test it ? Look up anything you wouldn’t normally look for. See how long it takes the advertisements in Gmail or in the Chrome browser to change to what you just looked for. It’s creepy. I avoid their services. Now I still have an account because as a business, I need to be “everywhere” but I don’t use them for anything in my personal life.

I’m extremely sad that Microsoft has apparently “jumped on the bandwagon” but I am still more comfortable with them (or Apple for that matter) having my data than I am with Google.

There’s a couple of articles that are nice counterpoints. You can read more here:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/revealed-the-crucial-detail-that-windows-10-privacy-critics-are-missing/

http://betanews.com/2016/01/08/if-youre-fine-with-microsofts-approach-to-privacy-in-windows-10-youre-out-of-touch/