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I was recently asked to help fix a high-visibility Web site that was performing poorly. I'd like to share some of the lessons--not learned, but reinforced--by the experience.

Fix the problem, not the blame. "We're in trouble! Help!" calls are fraught with embarrassment. Who, after all, wants to admit they have a problem? Many feel they "should" be able to "handle it ourselves," without sending up an emergency flare or asking for assistance. This latest was a straightforward "we can't get decent performance, and it's getting critical!" situation. … Read more

TripIt, the little traveler's help app that launched in the fall of 2007, is finally getting acquired. Business travel and expense management firm Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR) is putting up $120 million for the start-up.

In June 2008, I said that Tripit was clearly an acquisition play, not a long-term business. I did get my timing wrong, though: I thought they'd be acquired within the year.

I talked with TripIt co-founder Greg Brockway and Concur President Rajeev Singh today about the deal, and the prospects for the company. They want to have their businesses meet in the middle of … Read more

LAS VEGAS--BlackBerry owners now have a way to send content directly from their phones to their PCs.

Introduced this week at CES, the new Tazzle IT device connects a BlackBerry to any Windows PC via a Bluetooth connection, allowing people to send e-mails, file attachments, documents, photos and other files to their computers for easier access.

BlackBerry owners install the Tazzle app on their phones and computers and then plug the Tazzle USB stick into the PC for instant BlueTooth pairing. Once the connection is established, people can not only send content from their phones but also directly view and … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed from our readers. This week we have questions on RAM modules not working in one PowerBook RAM slot, options for viewing alternative region DVDs, and a Windows 7 taskbar "Preview" option in OS X. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few here, we certainly welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: RAM not working in one slot

MacFixIt reader Donald asks:

G4 Powerbook, 15", 1.67GHz, Early 2005. I have 2x1GB … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed from our readers. This week we have questions on MacBook trackpads becoming very sensitive after using alternative pointing devices, desktop pictures not being oriented properly, and third-party menu extras not being removable from the system menu. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few here, we certainly welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Hypersensitive trackpad on MacBook Pro

MacFixIt reader "Terry" asks:

Since I purchased and installed a Magic Track Pad, my … Read more

As more companies realize the savings involved in running large commercial buildings more efficiently when it comes to energy, sales of automated building energy management systems are poised to soar.

The U.S. market for such systems will grow to $2.4 billion annually by 2016 compared to seeing $900 million in revenue for 2010, according to the "Building Energy Management Systems" report released today by Pike Research.

Products include optimization software for a particular building's needs, as well as analytics that tap in to smart grids to predict peak supply and demand scenarios and adjust internal … Read more

Chrome is ready for corporate use, Google argued today in blog posts.

"Today, we're announcing that Chrome offers controls that enable IT administrators to easily configure and deploy the browser on Windows, Mac, and Linux according to their business requirements," product manager Glenn Wilson and programmer Daniel Clifford said.

Of course, it'll be up to those administrators to decide whether it really is ready. But Google has added several features, most notably Windows policy template support that lets administrators control Chrome settings across an organization.

And for those not satisfied with poking around help files and … Read more

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Got a new PC?

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Do men and women who work in IT see their jobs and career opportunities differently? A new survey from IT staffing firm Technisource finds some disparities but also areas of agreement.

Released yesterday, the "Technisource Women & Men in Information Technology Survey" (PDF) discovered differences in viewpoints among men and women in IT in such areas as compensation and career challenges.

Among some of the specific findings, 78 percent of the women polled said they don't believe compensation is equivalent between them and their male colleagues. But almost half of the men surveyed do think it's … Read more